--May the Force be with you! Shreshth91 ($ |-| r 3 $ |-| t |-|) 08:45, 30 October 2005 (UTC)
Hello, WmE. You may have noticed Tawkerbot2 reverted one or more of your edits and left a message on your talk page. Wikipedia recently experienced a database malfunction, causing Tawkerbot2 to misidentify legitimate edits; hence the reversion of your edit(s) and the message. The bot has been temporarily disabled until the problems are rectified. Thanks. — Wayward Talk 16:27, 13 March 2006 (UTC)
Welcome to the Tropical Cyclone Wikiproject! We're looking forward to any future edits you can make to tropical cyclones, and we're happy to have you on board. Current projects include bettering the existing articles on retired hurricanes to GA or FA status. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Here's the latest version of our monthly newsletter. Enjoy! Hurricanehink ( talk) 11:37, 16 June 2006 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary of the activities of the WikiProject over the past month and upcoming events over the next month. In addition monthly tropical cyclone activity will be summarized.
You have received this as you are a member of the WikiProject, please add your username in the appropriate section on the mailing list. If you do not add your name to that list, the WikiProject will assume you do not wish to receive future versions of The Hurricane Herald.
Storm of the month
Typhoon Chanchu was the first typhoon and first super typhoon of the 2006 Pacific typhoon season. Forming on May 9 over the open western Pacific Ocean, Chanchu moved over the Philippines on the 11th. There, it dropped heavy rainfall, causing mudslides, crop damage, and 41 deaths. It moved into the South China Sea, where it rapidly strengthened to a super typhoon on May 14, one of only two super typhoons recorded in the sea. It turned to the north, weakened, and struck the Fujian province of China as a minimal typhoon on the 17th. The typhoon flooded 192 houses, while heavy rainfall caused deadly mudslides. In China, Chanchu caused at least 25 deaths and $480 million in damage (2006 USD). Elsewhere on its path, strong waves from the typhoon sank eleven Vietnamese ships, killing at least 44 people. In Taiwan, heavy rainfall killed two people, while in Japan, severe waves killed one person and injured another.Other tropical cyclone activity
New and improved articles
New articles and improvements wanted
Member of the month
The May member of the month is TitoXD. The WikiProject awards this to him for his brilliant work in improving articles. TitoXD joined the WikiProject in October just after it had been founded. Since then he has contributed substantially to many articles, for example Hurricane Nora (1997), which is currently a Featured Article Candidate. He is also actively involved in the assessment of articles and so helps to improve many more articles.
Explanation of content
If you have a topic which is not directly related to any specific article but is relevant to the WikiProject bring it up on the Newsletters talk page, and it will probably be included in a future edition of The Hurricane Herald.
These two sections are decided by the community on the newsletter's talk page:
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | April | May | June |
---|---|---|---|
FA | 7 | 7 | 10 |
A | 4 | 5 | 7 |
GA | 0 | 3 | 5 |
B | 62 | 66 | 82 |
Start | 154 | 177 | 168 |
Stub | 13 | 12 | 10 |
Total | 240 | 263 | 282 |
percentage ≥Less than B |
69.6 | 71.6 | 63.1 |
The assessment scale
Here's some pointers to making a good tropical cyclone article. Dear Tropical cyclone editor,
As a member of the Tropical Cyclone Wikiproject, you are receiving this message to describe how you can better tropical cyclone articles. There are hundreds of tropical cyclone articles, though many of them are poorly organized and lacking in information. Using the existing featured articles as a guide line, here is the basic format for the ideal tropical cyclone article.
Good luck with future writing, and if you have a question about the above, don't hesitate to ask.
The July issue of the WikiProject Tropical cyclones newsletter is now available. If you wish to receive the full newsletter or no longer be informed of the release of future editions, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list.-- Nilfanion ( talk) 00:56, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
By what do you as in Major Hurricane Bud, was it upgraded to a Category 3 storm or what? Alastor Moody ( talk) 01:22, 13 July 2006 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list.
Storm of the month
Severe Tropical Storm Bilis was a damaging tropical storm that caused significant damage to areas of southeastern China, the Philippines and Taiwan. The fourth named storm of the 2006 Pacific typhoon season formed to the east of the Philippines on July 8 and moved towards Taiwan, strengthening as it did so. It reached its peak strength of 110 km/h (70 mph) on July 13, shortly before it made its first landfall on northern Taiwan. Bilis then made a second landfall in Fujian, China on July 14 after officials evaucated over 1 million residents from the areas in the storm's path. The remnant lasted for several days after landfall and brought heavy rain to inland China. The most significant damage occurred in Hunan, where heavy flooding and mudslides destroyed over 31,000 homes and killed 345. Despite never reaching typhoon strength, the storm was responsible for $2.5 billion in damage and at least 625 fatalities in total.Other tropical cyclone activity
There were 10 other tropical cyclones worldwide in July, with activity in all 4 northern hemisphere basins.
Main Page content
New articles and improvements wanted
Member of the month
The July member of the month is Hurricanehink. The WikiProject awards this to him for the superb quality of his work on articles. Hurricanehink joined the project in November and has significantly contributed to many of the project's Featured Articles including Tropical Storm Allison and Hurricane Mitch. In addition to his contributions Hurricanehink also works on the assessment and improvement of most articles within the project.
New and improved articles
Storm article statistics
Grade | May | June | July | August |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 7 | 10 | 13 | 16 |
A | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
GA | 3 | 5 | 18 | 24 |
B | 66 | 82 | 79 | 77 |
Start | 177 | 168 | 180 | 191 |
Stub | 12 | 10 | 8 | 8 |
Total | 263 | 282 | 303 | 322 |
percentage ≥Less than B |
71.6 | 63.1 | 62.0 | 61.8 |
Useful sources of tropical cyclone information
The following organizations provide helpful information for writing about tropical cyclones, both past and present.
In his April Tropical Cyclone Summary, Gary Padgett stated that he will extensively reference Wikipedia in his future summaries. I have communicated with him and he has stated that he is "very much interested in cooperating" with us. He has also provided me with a copy of Jack Beven's weekly summaries (covering 1991-1996). If you want a copy of them, email me.-- Nilfanion ( talk)
|
Thanks! However...I still feel that my predictions seem too similar to last year...and I am a bit biased with them. ;) Notice how I'm a Denver Broncos fan and I have them going to the Super Bowl, lol. I don't know if I should just give in and have them win (cause I do feel that they are one of the best teams). Anyway, I still have...like...2 weeks before the season starts. I have time to change them based on preseason performances ;). bob rulz 03:03, 22 August 2006 (UTC)
Number 3, September 3, 2006
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. The WikiProject now has its own IRC channel.
Storm of the month
Typhoon Saomai (known as Typhoon Juan to PAGASA) claimed at least 441 lives and caused over $1.5 billion in damage. After forming on August 4 near Chuuk, the storm brought heavy rain and strong winds to the Marianas, the Philippines, Taiwan and southeastern China. It started to intensify, and reached its official peak with winds of 95 knots (175 km/h, 110 mph) on August 9. The JTWC reported that it peaked as a Category 5 super typhoon the same day, a strength Chinese forecasters described as the most powerful to hit China in 50 years. Saomai maintained that strength until landfall on August 10 and dissipated inland the next day.
Other tropical cyclone activity
There were 16 other tropical cyclones during August, in the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Main Page content
New articles and improvements wanted
Member of the month
The August member of the month is Nilfanion. The WikiProject awards this to him for his contributions in many diverse sections of the project. Nilfanion joined the Wikiproject in April and provides track maps for the project and has produced a featured picture. He has developed the tropical cyclone Commons Category scheme in the process. In addition he has produced a number of quality articles and is active in assessment.
New and improved articles
Storm article statistics
Grade | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 10 | 13 | 16 | 15 |
A | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
GA | 5 | 18 | 24 | 28 |
B | 82 | 79 | 77 | 79 |
Start | 168 | 180 | 191 | 200 |
Stub | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
Total | 282 | 303 | 322 | 337 |
percentage ≥Less than B |
63.1 | 62.0 | 61.8 | 61.7 |
Tropical cyclone imagery
When uploading an image of a tropical cyclone please
The following is a good image description:
{{Information
|Description=Visible image of Hurricane Ernesto on 2006-08-27 at peak strength just south of Haiti as seen by GOES-12.
|Source=Original image located here.
|Date= 2006-08-27
|Author=The Naval Research Laboratory
|Permission={{ PD-USGov-Military-Navy}}
}}
[[Category:Hurricane Ernesto (2006)]] [[Category:NRL images of tropical cyclones|Ernesto (2006)]]
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. The WikiProject has its own IRC channel.
Storm of the month
Hurricane Ioke is the most intense hurricane on record in the Central Pacific. After forming on August 19 to the south of Hawaii, Ioke moved to the northwest and hit Johnston Atoll as a Category 2 hurricane. It strengthened further as it moved to the west, reaching Category 5 strength on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale three times, twice in the Central Pacific and once in the Western Pacific. After the storm entered the Western Pacific it directly hit Wake Island. The storm finally became extratropical on September 7 but its extratropical remnants affected Alaska. Overall damage from Hurricane Ioke was light.
Other tropical cyclone activity
New and improved articles
Main Page content
New articles and improvements wanted
Storm article statistics
Grade | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 13 | 16 | 15 | 15 |
A | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 |
GA | 18 | 24 | 28 | 33 |
B | 79 | 77 | 79 | 84 |
Start | 180 | 191 | 200 | 201 |
Stub | 8 | 8 | 8 | 13 |
Total | 303 | 322 | 337 | 352 |
percentage ≥Less than B |
62.0 | 61.8 | 61.7 | 60.8 |
Member of the month
The September member of the month is Thegreatdr, David Roth. David Roth is a meteorologist at the wpc, who as part of his work there is producing Tropical Cyclone Rainfall Data. Dozens of the maps he has created are used in Wikipedia articles. He has produced a number of valuable articles to the project such as tropical cyclone rainfall climatology and Atlantic hurricane reanalysis, and significantly expanded several seasonal articles such as 1982 Pacific hurricane season.
Number 6, November 5, 2006
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. The WikiProject has its own IRC channel.
Storm of the month
Typhoon Xangsane, known as Typhoon Milenyo in the Philippines was a destructive typhoon that affected the Philippines and Indochina. The storm caused severe flooding and landslides in the regions it affected and was responsible for at least 279 deaths and $747 million ( USD) in damage, mostly in the Philippines and Vietnam. Xangsane formed to the east of the Philippines and rapidly intensified, striking Samar Island as a Category 4 typhoon. It weakened over the Philippines, but again reached Category 4 strength in the South China Sea. After its landfall in Vietnam, the typhoon dissipated, with its remnant crossing Indochina and entering the Bay of Bengal.
Other tropical cyclone activity
New articles and improvements wanted
Member of the month
The October Member of the Month is Coredesat. Coredesat joined the WikiProject in March and has contributed to many diverse areas within the project. He has written two featured articles on Atlantic storms and a number of good articles on current typhoons. However, the article he is most proud of is a disambiguation page, a sorely neglected portion of the project.
Main Page content
New and improved articles
Storm article statistics
Grade | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 16 | 15 | 15 | 16 |
A | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
GA | 24 | 28 | 33 | 48 |
B | 77 | 79 | 84 | 83 |
Start | 191 | 200 | 201 | 210 |
Stub | 8 | 8 | 13 | 11 |
Total | 322 | 337 | 352 | 375 |
percentage ≥;Less than B |
61.8 | 61.7 | 60.8 | 58.9 |
Tropical cyclone scales
The various agencies which report on tropical cyclones use a variety of different scales to measure the storms strength. The most familiar of these is the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale and this is the de facto standard in the project and should be used everywhere. However, as it is only official in the Atlantic and East Pacific, other local scales should be used when discussing storms in other regions and given primacy over the Saffir-Simpson Scale. The Saffir-Simpson scale is based on 1-minute averages, but other scales are generally based upon 10-minute averages, which are approximately 15% lower.
This table provides a useful-at-a-glance comparison of the various scales currently in use. Further complications arise due to the fact different agencies obtain different estimates for the same storm at the same time, so be careful to use the most appropriate source agency.
Number 7, December 22, 2006
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. This shortened late issue covers just global tropical cyclone activity in November, to prevent the next newsletter from being too large.
Tropical cyclone activity
Editorial
The lateness of this edition is due to me being on an wikibreak and no-one taking up the slack. My wikibreak was the result of a lightning strike damaging my internet connection and frying my router, and the time taken for the replacement to arrive. As this issue is almost 3 weeks later than planned, only the monthly cyclone activity for November has been included. The next letter will be produced for January 7, 2006 and will be larger than normal to cover both month's Wikipedia news and December's tropical activity. There will be no Member or Storm of the month in January, to reduce the length; and the newsletter will return to normal in February.-- Nilf anion ( talk) 21:59, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. The WikiProject has its own IRC channel.
Tropical cyclone activity
The Portal Portal:Tropical cyclones is designed as the entry point to the WikiProject's work and is recognised as a Featured Portal. The structure emulates that of Wikipedia's Main page and needs updating in a similar manner. The following are the key sections that need editorial attention:
Please keep all of these sections up-to-date and refresh them as new tropical cyclones develop and articles are created. Also please keep the suggestions to editors current and fresh.
New articles and improvements wanted
These tasks are those listed at Portal:Tropical cyclones/Things you can do:
Main Page content
New articles
Improved articles
Number 9, February 4, 2007
The Hurricane Herald
Storm of the month
Cyclone Clovis was named late on December 31 near to Tromelin Island. Clovis strengthened as it moved to the southwest reaching its peak the same day with 60 knot winds (according to Météo-France). The JTWC intensified Clovis more slowly, and assessed that it reached its peak with 65 knot winds on January 2, as it was nearing the Madagascar coast. The JTWC maintained this strength until it made landfall on the island on January 3. The resulting floods damaged a number of structures in Mananjary and about 1,500 people had to be evacuated. [2]Other tropical cyclone activity
The only activity during January was in the
Southern Hemisphere, with a total of 5 cyclones existing throughout the month.
New articles and improvements wanted
Member of the month
The January member of the month is Chacor, formerly known as NSLE. Chacor joined the project in November 2005, and has contributed to a wide variety of articles across the project. Recently he has generally focussed on the West Pacific and did most of the work on the first Good article in that basin: Typhoon Ewiniar (2006). He has also started the much needed process of splitting the Southern Hemisphere seasonal articles. Finally, Chacor is probably the user who maintains the quality of the most visible part of the project, the current activity.
Main Page content
New and improved articles
Storm article statistics
Grade | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 16 | 19 | 23 | 25 |
A | 7 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
GA | 48 | 57 | 74 | 75 |
B | 83 | 78 | 71 | 76 |
Start | 210 | 200 | 193 | 195 |
Stub | 11 | 15 | 16 | 16 |
Total | 375 | 375 | 379 | 389 |
percentage Less than B |
58.9 | 57.3 | 55.1 | 54.2 |
A quick note: When you create a new article please list it in the appropriate section on the project's page and add a fact from the article to the Portal. Thanks.
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list.
Storm of the month
Cyclone Favio developed well to the east of northern Madagascar on February 12 and moved to the southwest as it developed. The storm did not significantly intensify until February 19 when it was just off the soutern coast of Madagascar, but rapidly intenstified soon after to its peak with 185 km/h (115 mph) winds. Favio turned to the northwest and hit Mozambique worsening the floods already occuring in the country. Favio claimed at least 4 lives and destroyed thousands of homes.
Other tropical cyclone activity
There were a total of 6 tropical cyclones in the
southern hemisphere during February. Five of these, including Favio, were in the South West Indian Ocean.
Member of the month
The February member of the month is Miss Madeline. Miss Madeline is responsible for many of the projects featured lists such as List of Category 5 Pacific hurricanes and List of California hurricanes. She has also put serious work into many of our Pacific hurricane articles since she joined the project as one of its founding members. Recently she has worked on 1996 Pacific hurricane season, bringing it from a stub-class article to a Good article candidate.
New and improved articles
Main Page content
New articles and improvements wanted
Storm article statistics
Grade | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 19 | 23 | 25 | 28 |
A | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
GA | 57 | 74 | 75 | 80 |
B | 78 | 71 | 76 | 78 |
Start | 200 | 193 | 195 | 194 |
Stub | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
Total | 375 | 379 | 389 | 398 |
percentage Less than B |
57.3 | 55.1 | 54.2 | 52.8 |
Comments wanted on project talk Many discussions that potentially have far reaching impact for the whole project are carried out on the project's talk page. However, only a fraction of our active contributors actually engage in those discussions. If you add the project page to your Watchlist and keep an eye on discussions there to monitor upcoming changes, even if you don't participate in those discussions it would help both yourself and the project as a whole. For instance, at the moment the primary infobox templates such as {{ Infobox hurricane}} are in the process of being deprecated and replaced by new versions which do the role more effectively.
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Hurricane Will developed from a tropical wave to the east of the Caribbean Sea and intensified. It crossed over Jamaica and re-emerged over water a few days later. The storm intensified into a hurricane and an eye began to develop. Will became a major hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall on the vulnerable Gulf Coast of the United States soon after. To date, Hurricane Will has claimed over 350 lives and is directly responsible for about $5 billion of damages; of which an unknown amount was insured. Despite the damage, it is not expected that the name will be retired by WMO.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The April member of the month is HurricaneIrene. Irene began contributing to tropical cyclone articles on Wikipedia in August 2005, but ran out of steam and left after barely 2 weeks. However, Irene's influence on the project has been wide-reaching. Her efforts led directly to two articles attaining featured status and her legacy inspired many of our most active editors to write a plethora of good articles on a wide range of storms.
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 23 | 25 | 28 | 29 |
A | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
GA | 74 | 75 | 80 | 82 |
B | 71 | 76 | 78 | 80 |
Start | 193 | 195 | 194 | 209 |
Stub | 16 | 16 | 16 | 17 |
Total | 379 | 389 | 398 | 419 |
percentage Less than B |
55.1 | 54.2 | 52.8 | 53.9 |
The Main Page
The WikiProject has a narrow scope, so it is not surprising that our articles are not frequently selected for Today's featured article. Most destructive cyclones are likely to be mentioned on the In the news column. We have no real control over that, but we should submit suggestions when appropriate.
However, we can do a more lot more to place our content in the other major section of the main page: The Did you know column. In the past month we created over 30 articles. Of these only 2 were even submitted as suggestions for DYK. We can do much better, please submit DYK entries for new articles when you do the initial assessment.
Number 12, January 10, 2008
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This edition of the newsletter, after an extended hiatus, covers December 2007 and the first ten days of January 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Tropical Storm Olga was a rare Atlantic December tropical cyclone. The fifteenth named storm of the season, it developed near Puerto Rico on December 11, and quickly struck the Dominican Republic. There, it brought heavy rainfall and severe damage, and caused more than 40 deaths. Casualties were also reported in Puerto Rico and Haiti. The storm greatly weakened as it crossed Hispaniola, degenerating into a remnant low pressure area in the Caribbean Sea on December 13. The remnants of Olga passed near the Yucatán Peninsula before turning northward and bringing rainfall to Florida.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The December member of the month is Mitchazenia. Mitchazenia has been a project member since 2006. He has created several tropical cyclone related articles, including the good article Subtropical Storm One (1982). Mitchazenia significantly contributed to 1983 Atlantic hurricane season, which is currently a featured article candidate.
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 30 | 30 | 31 | 33 |
A | 4 | 9 | 8 | 9 |
GA | 105 | 106 | 109 | 112 |
B | 80 | 78 | 82 | 86 |
Start | 213 | 212 | 211 | 208 |
Stub | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
Total | 438 | 440 | 447 | 454 |
percentage Less than B |
50.0 | 49.3 | 48.5 | 47.1 |
Categories and more The project has gone under somewhat of a revamping. We have a new, more realistic goal. The members list has been dropped from 89 to 34. This newsletter is to inform users of a change in policy with categories. Previously, an Atlantic and Pacific storm article would have both Category:Atlantic hurricanes and Category:Category 3 tropical cyclones. However, the two were combined, resulting in Category:Category 3 Atlantic hurricanes. The same is done with Pacific hurricanes. Tropical storm articles are dealt with either Category:Eastern Pacific tropical storms or Category:Atlantic tropical storms.
Number 13, February 2, 2008
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of January 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Cyclone Gene formed on January 26 over the open south Pacific Ocean. It drifted southward, and strengthened into Tropical Storm Gene on January 28 as it moved across the Fijian archipelago. There, it brought heavy rainfall, which caused the worst flooding in several years. Half of the country was left without power, and the cyclone killed seven people in Fiji. The storm turned southwestward, developing a cloud-filled eye and quickly strengthening by the end of the month.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The January member of the month is Ajm81. A tropical cyclone editor since he first joined in October 2005, Ajm81 plays a vital role in the project. Unlike other editors, who mainly edit articles, Ajm81 maintains and updates the track maps across the project. We thank Ajm81 for his timely contributions, and may he have some well-deserved downtime after the last tropical cyclone report is released.
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 30 | 31 | 33 | 33 |
A | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
GA | 106 | 109 | 112 | 114 |
B | 78 | 82 | 86 | 99 |
Start | 212 | 211 | 208 | 214 |
Stub | 5 | 6 | 6 | 3 |
Total | 440 | 447 | 454 | 472 |
ω | 3.02 | 3.01 | 2.98 | 2.98 |
percentage Less than B |
49.3 | 48.5 | 47.1 | 46.0 |
Wikiwork and 1000 articles In January 2008, the WikiProject began using a system called Wikiwork, or ω. It weighs the overall quality of the project's articles, and a lower number means a greater total quality. The weighed ω, as used above, is a relative number that can be used to compare groups of this article. As of this publication, the relative ω of the project is 3.404, corresponding to between Start and B class. However, when limiting it solely to storm articles, the number drops to 2.98, which is slightly better than B class. During the month, a new statistics page was created.
Additionally, during the month, Mitchazenia pointed out that we received our 1,000th article with the creation of Cyclone Elita.
♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 16:41, 2 February 2008 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of February 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Cyclone Ivan formed on February 7 and subsequently executed a loop to the west-southwest. Encountering favorable conditions, it strengthened to attain peak winds on February 17 before striking northeastern Madagascar. It degenerated into a remnant low pressure area as it crossed the island, and briefly re-organized into a weak tropical depression before dissipating on February 22. Ivan caused heavy damage in Madagascar, leaving 190,000 people homeless and causing over 83 deaths.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The February member of the month is RattleMan, for his lasting dedication and continual support of the project. During February, the user worked on improving the timeline articles for the previous season. RattleMan often updates the sections on storms in season articles, and helps to maintain the southern hemisphere articles.
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 31 | 33 | 33 | 36 |
A | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 |
GA | 109 | 112 | 114 | 123 |
B | 82 | 86 | 99 | 96 |
Start | 211 | 208 | 214 | 216 |
Stub | 6 | 6 | 3 | 6 |
Total | 447 | 454 | 472 | 485 |
ω | 3.01 | 2.98 | 2.98 | 2.96 |
percentage Less than B |
48.5 | 47.1 | 46.0 | 45.8 |
percentage GA or better |
33.1 | 33.9 | 33.1 | 34.3 |
Improvements During the month, a total of 15 new articles were added, though the net increase in start or stub articles was only three. The highest quality set of articles for a basin is for the Eastern Pacific Ocean, of which half of its articles are either a good article or better; all of its retired storm articles are good or better. However, the basin has a lower total number of articles, and the Atlantic basin has a higher overall total of good articles.
There is a drive to increase the number of featured topics, which is located on the project talk page.
♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 05:02, 2 March 2008 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of March 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Cyclone Jokwe was the first tropical cyclone to make landfall in Mozambique since Cyclone Favio struck in the previous year. The tenth named storm of the 2007-08 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, Jokwe was first classified as a tropical depression on March 2 over the open Southwest Indian Ocean. It tracked west-southwest, crossing northern Madagascar as a tropical storm on March 5 before intensifying into a tropical cyclone on March 6. Jokwe rapidly intensified to reach peak winds of 195 km/h (120 mph), before weakening slightly and striking Nampula Province in northeastern Mozambique. It quickly weakened while paralleling the coastline, though the storm restrengthened as it turned southward in the Mozambique Channel. Late in its duration, it remained nearly stationary for several days, and steadily weakened due to wind shear before dissipating on March 16.
The storm caused minor damage in northern Madagascar. In Mozambique, the cyclone affected 165,000 people, and left at least sixteen fatalities. Cyclone Jokwe destroyed over 9,000 houses and damaged over 3,000 more, with the heaviest damage in Angoche and the Island of Mozambique in Nampula Province. The storm also caused widespread power outages and crop damages.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The March member of the month is CapeVerdeWave, whose first edit was to a tropical cyclone article, back in January 2006. CapeVerdeWave has been a steady and active member of the project, writing several articles on Category 5 hurricanes as well as working on the often forgotten older hurricanes. The user also has contributed to some older season articles, and recently helped update the project after the recent hurricane re-analysis. We thank him for his continued dedication.
New members
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 33 | 33 | 36 | 38 |
A | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
GA | 112 | 114 | 123 | 130 |
B | 86 | 99 | 96 | 91 |
Start | 208 | 214 | 216 | 211 |
Stub | 6 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
Total | 454 | 472 | 485 | 487 |
ω | 2.98 | 2.98 | 2.96 | 2.94 |
percentage Less than B |
47.1 | 46.0 | 45.8 | 45.2 |
percentage GA or better |
33.9 | 33.1 | 34.3 | 36.1 |
Project News: Updates on the Best Track - Atlantic and North Indian Ocean, and more
In February, the
Hurricane Research Division released its reanalysis for the Atlantic Ocean from 1915 to 1920. Highlights include the addition of eight storms, as well as the removal of one storm. The winds in the
1919 Florida Keys Hurricane were increased to 130 knots, and the 1916 Texas hurricane was increased to a Category 4 hurricane.
According to an email sent to the India Meteorological Department, there will be an online version of the North Indian Ocean best track from 1877 to 2006, scheduled to be released in two months; it is unknown if it will cost money to access.
In unrelated news, the project was featured on the Signpost; Mitchazenia was interviewed, and talked about the past, present, and future of the project.
At the end of the month, there were five different Featured content candidates (FXC's) by five different editors; two were featured article candidates, two were featured list candidates, and one was a featured picture candidate. The have been a few times in which there were four FXC's from four different editors, most recently in February and early March of 2008.
♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 02:41, 6 April 2008 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of April 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Typhoon Neoguri was the earliest tropical cyclone on record to strike China. It formed on April 13 to the east of the Philippines, and once entering the South China Sea, environmental conditions allowed for quick strengthening. Neoguri attained its peak intensity of 150 km/h (90 mph) as it approached the island of Hainan, though rapidly weakened due to unfavorable conditions. The system made landfall in southern China on April 19, causing three deaths and moderate damage totaling over ¥296 million (2008 RMB, $42 million 2008 USD). The typhoon left 40 fishermen missing in the South China Sea.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The April member of the month is VOFFA. Though not officially a project member, VOFFA is an important user to the project, having maintained and updated the talk page archives on tropical cyclones worldwide; activity includes adding warnings and discussions for all storms. The user is particularly active during the off-season of the Atlantic basin, when article activity on tropical cyclones typically declines.
New members
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 33 | 36 | 38 | 40 |
A | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
GA | 114 | 123 | 130 | 131 |
B | 99 | 96 | 91 | 103 |
Start | 214 | 216 | 211 | 208 |
Stub | 3 | 6 | 9 | 9 |
Total | 472 | 485 | 487 | 499 |
ω | 2.98 | 2.96 | 2.94 | 2.92 |
percentage Less than B |
46.0 | 45.8 | 45.2 | 43.5 |
percentage GA or better |
33.1 | 34.3 | 36.1 | 35.9 |
Project News
There is discussion on the status of articles on non-notable storms in the
Merging page of the project. Comments are welcome.
A Wikipedia traffic counter was launched earlier this year. In the month of February, the article on Hurricane Katrina was viewed just over 200,000 times, making the article the 496th most viewed article on the English Wikipedia during the month.
During the month, Hurricane Camille was demoted from GA status, continuing the trend of good articles degrading in status on notable storms; other occurrences include the FA removal of Cyclone Tracy and 1900 Galveston Hurricane. If anyone has any ideas how to fix the problem, feedback and ideas are appreciated.
♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 03:58, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of May 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Cyclone Nargis was the costliest and deadliest natural disaster in the history of Burma (Myanmar). It formed on April 27 in the central Bay of Bengal, and after initially tracking north-northwestward it turned to the east. Quickly strengthening to reach peak winds of at least 165 km/h (105 mph), Nargis made landfall in the Ayeyarwady Division of Burma on May 2 near peak intensity. The cyclone killed at least 80,000 people and potentially over 300,000. Passing near the metropolis of Yangon, the cyclone destroyed thousands of buildings, and damage was estimated at over $10 billion (USD). In the wake of the storm, the ruling military junta of Burma initially refused foreign aid, and after they allowed foreign assistance, the government was criticized for its poor handling of the aftermath of the storm.
Other tropical cyclone activity
New and improved articles
Project News
Several other languages are active in the realm of tropical cyclone articles, though as much as ours. The
French Wikipedia has 76 storm articles, the
Spanish Wikipedia has 99 storm articles, and the
Portuguese Wikipedia has 116 storm articles. Each of the projects have several storm articles we do not have, and the coverage on non-notable storms outside of the Atlantic is better, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere.
During the month, User:Potapych finished working on Template:Infobox Hurricane Small, which is used for the small Infoboxes in season articles; he has updated several season article already with the changes.
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Feb | Mar | Apr | May |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 36 | 38 | 40 | 41 |
A | 8 | 8 | 8 | 17 |
GA | 123 | 130 | 131 | 129 |
B | 96 | 91 | 103 | 101 |
Start | 216 | 211 | 208 | 209 |
Stub | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
Total | 487 | 487 | 499 | 506 |
ω | 2.96 | 2.94 | 2.92 | 2.88 |
percentage ≥Less than B |
45.8 | 45.2 | 43.5 | 43.1 |
percentage ≥GA or better |
34.3 | 36.1 | 35.9 | 367.0 |
Member of the month
The May member of the month is Juliancolton. Joining the project in November 2007, Julian has become an active member of the project, working on new articles in the Atlantic basin. He has created two featured lists ( List of Maryland and Washington, D.C. hurricanes (1980–present) and List of New York hurricanes), and rewrote the article on 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, which became featured during May. Juliancolton is currently working on a featured topic for Hurricane Dennis and its effects by region.
New members
♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 02:47, 8 June 2008 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of June 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Typhoon Fengshen was the deadliest Pacific typhoon since Typhoon Durian in November of 2006. The sixth named storm of the 2008 Pacific typhoon season, Fengshen developed on June 18 to the east of the Philippines, and after attaining typhoon status it stuck the island of Samar. It intensified while passing through the archipelago, reaching winds of over 175 km/h (110 mph) before passing near Metro Manila. Fengshen later weakened in the South China Sea, and it dissipated on June 26 after moving ashore in China.
The typhoon killed over 1,300 people, including 800 when the MV Princess of the Stars capsized during the storm. Damage totaled $247 million (USD), with over 300,000 houses damaged or destroyed. The damage total included $70 million (USD) in crop damage.
Other tropical cyclone activity
New and improved articles
Addition of C-class
During the month, C-class
was added to the assessment scheme. The project has begun the process of integrating C-class, though as of this publication only 8 articles in the project are at that level. A preliminary solution would be to very strictly define B-class with
six criteria, with
one proposal to automatically re-assess all B-class articles as C-class until they are confirmed to have passed the criteria. Discussion and participation are welcome on the issue.
As a result of the addition of C-class, the ω ( WikiWork) rating for C-class is now 3.5, to keep in line with the previous system we used.
During the month, the project published a page on its style for articles. The purpose for the page, as quoted from the top of the page, is to document a few existing unwritten guidelines for Wikipedia:WikiProject Tropical cyclones.
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 38 | 40 | 41 | 41 |
A | 8 | 8 | 17 | 18 |
GA | 130 | 131 | 129 | 135 |
B | 91 | 103 | 101 | 96 |
C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Start | 211 | 208 | 209 | 208 |
Stub | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
Total | 487 | 499 | 506 | 510 |
ω | 2.94 | 2.92 | 2.88 | 2.87 |
percentage ≥Less than C |
45.2 | 43.5 | 43.1 | 42.5 |
percentage ≥GA or better |
36.1 | 35.9 | 37.0 | 38.0 |
Member of the month
The June member of the month is User:Potapych. Though not officially a member of the project, Potapych is active on hurricane pages, having developed the new small infobox template introduced last month. After developing the new template, Potapych updated season articles across the board to accommodate the new template.
New members
♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 03:36, 6 July 2008 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of July 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Hurricane Bertha was a rare early season Cape Verde-type hurricane and the easternmost forming July tropical storm on record. Bertha became the longest-lived pre-August Atlantic tropical cyclone on record and the longest-lived tropical cyclone in the Atlantic Basin since Ivan in 2004. The second named storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, Bertha developed from a tropical wave that emerged off the coast of Africa on July 1. After initially remaining weak while tracking westward, Bertha began to strengthen on July 6, and the next day it quickly intensified to reach peak winds of 120 mph (195 km/h). The hurricane weakened during the day on July 8, and after turning to a northwest drift, it passed within 40 miles (64 km) of Bermuda on July 14 before moving northeast away from the island. Bertha became extratropical on July 20 to the east of Newfoundland, after causing minimal damage and three indirect drowning deaths.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The July member of the month is User:Plasticup. Joining the project in August of 2007, Plasticup first became an asset in working on the active article series on Hurricane Dean. After a period of inactivity, the user returned to produce two featured articles this month, both interesting meteorological histories. Additionally, Plasticup has focused some attention to articles in the 2005 season. Keep up the good work!
New members
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics </noinclude>
Grade | Apr | May | Jun | Jul |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 40 | 41 | 41 | 42 |
A | 8 | 17 | 18 | 18 |
GA | 131 | 129 | 135 | 139 |
B | 103 | 101 | 96 | 15 |
C | 0 | 0 | 3 | 98 |
Start | 208 | 209 | 208 | 202 |
Stub | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
Total | 499 | 506 | 510 | 524 |
ω | 2.92 | 2.88 | 2.87 | 2.94 |
percentage ≥Less than C |
43.5 | 43.1 | 42.5 | 40.5 |
percentage ≥GA or better |
35.9 | 37.0 | 38.0 | 38.0 |
Project News
During July, there were two large changes to the operations of the WikiProject. First, WPTC adopted and helped develop the
WP 1.0 B-Class criteria, and was among the first projects to use a "forced" B-Class rubric as part of their assessment schemes. This means that all the articles tagged with {{hurricane|class=B|...}}
are automatically reassessed as {{
C-Class}}, unless all the values in the
checklist are marked as passed. In other words, to mark an article as B-Class, the banner needs to be changed to
{{ hurricane |class=B |B1=yes |B2=yes |B3=yes |B4=yes |B5=yes |B6=yes | ... }}
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5 and B6 stand for each of the six points in the WikiProject's rubric. The banner also has the capability to mark why an article doesn't meet the new B-Class standards: Typing the following in an article's talk page
{{ hurricane |class=B |B1=no |B2=yes |B3=yes |B4=yes |B5=yes |B6=yes | ... }}
will assess an article as C-Class, and mark that the article is not a B because of bad references.
Articles assessed as B's before the introduction of the forced checklist were automatically reassessed as C's, but they're awaiting new reviews to check if they still meet the new B criteria. These articles are listed on Category:Tropical cyclone articles with incomplete B-Class checklists. Currently, there's 117 articles in the category—let's try to shrink that number to zero before the next edition of the Herald!
The other major change to the WikiProject was the addition of three
task forces: the
storm articles task force,
season articles task force, and the
tropical meteorology articles task force. These three task forces allow WPTC to see the progress of the different areas of the WikiProject. Currently, all 1,076 WPTC articles have been assigned to one of the three task forces, but any unsorted articles will be placed in
Category:Unsorted tropical cyclone articles as they're tagged with {{
hurricane}}
.
In order to categorize an article, the banner needs to be modified from {{hurricane|...}}
to:
{{ hurricane |storms-task-force=yes | ... }} {{ hurricane |seasons-task-force=yes | ... }} {{ hurricane |meteo-task-force=yes | ... }}
which will sort the pages into the storms, seasons, and tropical meteorology task forces, respectively.
♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 03:33, 3 August 2008 (UTC)
Number 20, September 6, 2008
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of August 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Hurricane Gustav was a deadly and damaging hurricane which formed late in the month in the Caribbean Sea. It first struck Haiti on August 26 as a minimal hurricane, where it killed 76 people and damaged or destroyed over 10,000 houses. Gustav turned to the southwest, moving over Jamaica where it killed 11 people. The hurricane rapidly intensified to reach peak winds of 150 mph (240 km/h) before making landfall on western Cuba; in the country, Gustav damaged or destroyed over 100,000 houses, though no deaths were reported due to well-executed evacuations. In the Gulf of Mexico, Gustav weakened due to its previous land interaction, and on September 1 it made landfall in south-central Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane, where it caused heavy damage. Across its path, the hurricane caused 101 deaths, with an initial damage total of $20 billion.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The August member of the month is Cyclonebiskit, who has been on Wikipedia since April. The user helped maintain the current season articles as well as storm articles. Cyclonebiskit has written one GA, and wrote much of one of the recent tropical cyclone articles.
New members
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | May | Jun | Jul | Aug |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 41 | 41 | 42 | 46 |
A | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
GA | 129 | 135 | 139 | 147 |
B | 101 | 96 | 15 | 15 |
C | 0 | 3 | 98 | 99 |
Start | 209 | 208 | 202 | 197 |
Stub | 9 | 9 | 10 | 15 |
Total | 506 | 510 | 524 | 537 |
ω | 2.88 | 2.87 | 2.94 | 2.92 |
percentage ≥Less than C |
43.1 | 42.5 | 40.5 | 39.5 |
percentage ≥GA or better |
37.0 | 38.0 | 38.0 | 39.3 |
Version 0.7
This month, several of the WikiProject's articles were selected for the
Version 1.0 Editorial Team's
Version 0.7 static release. The article selection occurs using an
automated process using WikiProjects' quality and importance assessments. For WPTC, this means that 29 articles will be part of this release, an increase from 13 in the
previous release. It should be noted that these numbers are based on preliminary data that can change based on updates to the database and corrections to the selection algorithm and WP:1.0's cut-off score.
The list of articles chosen for the release can be seen here. Of the selection, almost half of the articles are already featured, and eleven are good articles. There one B-Class article ( 1970 Bhola cyclone, two C-Class articles ( Hurricane Andrew, Cyclone Nargis), and two Start-Class articles ( Pacific typhoon, Hurricane Rita). As these articles will be published in a CD, it is imperative that the project improve them quickly.
The full list of all the WikiProject's articles is also available here. According to that list, WPTC's highest-scoring article— Tropical cyclone—has a score of 1969, which is very good as Canada, the selection's highest-scoring article, has a score of 2,409. That said, Extreme wind warning is the least important article we have, with a score of 227, so we may have to improve it a little bit so it isn't that low...
♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 05:15, 7 September 2008 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of September 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
As a result of an extended Wikibreak, I will not be able to work on the next month's newsletter. Other users are welcome to get it together. ♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 03:53, 5 October 2008 (UTC)
Storm of the month
Hurricane Ike was among the costliest Atlantic hurricanes on record, based on a preliminary damage estimate of $31.5 billion ( USD). The ninth named storm, fifth hurricane, and third major hurricane of the 2008 season, Ike developed on September 1 in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. Maintaining a generally westward track throughout its duration, Ike reached Category 4 status on the Saffir-Simpson scale, moving across the Turks and Caicos Islands at that intensity before weakening and crossing Cuba; heavy damage was reported in Cuba, which was still recovering from Hurricane Gustav just weeks prior. Gustav later moved across the Gulf of Mexico and struck near Galveston, Texas, where its effects were estimated as the costliest hurricane in Texas history. Further inland, the storm brought high winds and widespread damage, and its impact reached as far as Canada. Throughout its path, Gustav caused over 100 deaths, mostly in Texas and Haiti, and several hundred remain missing.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The September member of the month is CrazyC83, who has been a steady editor within the project for the past few years. Lately, the user's contributions include maintaining the current season articles, which is the biggest workload for the project. In the past, however, CrazyC83 was very active in writing articles, and was a proponent for all storms in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season getting articles. Of note was his contributions to Hurricane Juan, which brought it to featured status and later to the main page.
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 41 | 42 | 46 | 47 |
A | 18 | 18 | 18 | 19 |
GA | 135 | 139 | 147 | 161 |
B | 96 | 15 | 15 | 17 |
C | 3 | 98 | 99 | 107 |
Start | 208 | 202 | 197 | 201 |
Stub | 9 | 10 | 15 | 19 |
Total | 510 | 524 | 537 | 571 |
ω | 2.87 | 2.94 | 2.92 | 2.92 |
percentage ≥Less than C |
42.5 | 40.5 | 39.5 | 38.5 |
percentage ≥GA or better |
38.0 | 38.0 | 39.3 | 39.8 |
Project News
Overall, the project has had a relatively uneventful month. One of the most noteworthy events was the selection of 32 tropical cyclone-related articles, that were
chosen as part of
Wikipedia 0.7. Wikipedia 0.7 is a collection of English Wikipedia articles due to be released on DVD, and available for free download, later this year. While many of the selected articles are of featured or good quality, several require substantial cleanup and expansion.
In other news, a handful of changes to project standards have taken place. Per a consensus on the project's talk page, the section of each tropical cyclone article previously entitled "Storm history" has been changed to "Meteorological history", thanks in part to Plasticup's bot which preformed the hundreds of edits to execute the change. In addition, a discussion is ongoing regarding the necessity of List of storms in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, and similar articles for other seasons.
New members
♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 03:58, 5 October 2008 (UTC)
Number 22, November 2, 2008
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of October 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Deep Depression ARB 02 caused the 2008 Yemen floods. On October 19 the IMD noted that an area of low pressure which located to the south east of Salalah, Oman had intensifed in to a tropical depression and was assigned the number ARB 02. On October 21 IMD updated the system to a Deep Depression while it lay 700 km south of Salalah, Oman near the east coast of Somalia. It lost its strength while crossing the Gulf of Aden due to entry of dry air and land interaction as it passed close to the northeastern coast of Somalia. It later was downgraded to a Depression, named TC 03B by the JTWC. On October 24 it made landfall on the south-eastern coast of Yemen, leaving at least 26 civilians and six soldiers dead while trapping hundreds of people due to flooding and torrential rainfalls. The latest figure of casualties is of 184 persons dead and 100 others missing, mostly from the region of Hadhramawt, where the storm made landfall. A total of 733 houses were destroyed in the governorates of Hadhramaut and Al Mahrah, while 22,000 people were displaced. The Yemeni Government declared the two aforementioned governorates as disaster zones.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The October member of the month is Hurricanehink. Since joining the project near its inception, Hurricanehink has been involved in bringing forty two articles, eighteen lists and six topics to featured status. Just this month, Hurricanehink was mentioned in the Signpost Dispatch. Hurricanehink has also been the regular distributor for this newsletter.
New members
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 42 | 46 | 47 | 48 |
A | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 |
GA | 139 | 145 | 161 | 187 |
B | 15 | 14 | 17 | 12 |
C | 98 | 99 | 107 | 113 |
Start | 202 | 197 | 201 | 201 |
Stub | 10 | 15 | 19 | 20 |
Total | 524 | 537 | 571 | 600 |
ω | 2.94 | 2.92 | 2.92 | 2.88 |
percentage ≥Less than C |
40.5 | 39.5 | 38.5 | 36.8 |
percentage ≥GA or better |
38.0 | 39.3 | 39.8 | 42.3 |
Project News
A
discussion concerning sandboxes for next year's articles has begun. Please consider working on sandboxes so they will be ready to publish. As tropical cyclones can form at any time in the western Pacific and northern Indian Oceans, these two season's should be made ready for cyclones by December. Ideally, due to the possibility of pre-season storms, the eastern Pacific and Atlantic seasons should also be ready by then, but they should at least be ready by the northern-Hemisphere antipeak in late February and early March. Seasons for the years 2010 to 2015 should be given the name "Post-2009 {ocean name} {cyclone term} seasons", as in "Post 2009 Atlantic hurricane seasons".
A category for tropical cyclone articles of very-low importance has been introduced. Although discussion is still ongoing, a rating of very-low-importance will generally be given to weak cyclones that do not have impact or set any sort of record.
Editorial
This month, our usual editor,
Hurricanehink, has been on a semi-wikibreak until further notice. I am filling in as editor and distributor on an interim basis. The newsletter will continue as normal during that time. Thank you.
Miss Madeline |
Talk to Madeline
00:49, 2 November 2008 (UTC)
Miss Madeline | Talk to Madeline 01:27, 2 November 2008 (UTC)
Number 23,
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of November & December 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Hurricane Paloma
Hurricane Paloma was the second most powerful November hurricane on record in the Atlantic Basin, behind
Hurricane Lenny in 1999. It was the third and final major hurricane to hit Cuba in 2008, being the first time that three major hurricanes have struck Cuba in one season. It also marked the first time that at least one major hurricane formed in every month of the hurricane season from July to November, with only June not having a major hurricane this season.
Hurricane Paloma was also the last Tropical Depression of the 2008 season, and caused at least $1.4 billion in damage and was responsible for at least one direct death.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The November/December member of the month is Thegreatdr, who has been a steady editor within the project for the past few years. Lately, the user's contributions include improving some of the Pacific Typhoon season articles from the 1980s. Thegreatdr has also tipped us off about going on's at the National Hurricane Center and the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center.
New members
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 47 | 49 | 49 | 50 |
A | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 |
GA | 161 | 187 | 198 | 202 |
B | 17 | 13 | 21 | 22 |
C | 107 | 119 | 118 | 122 |
Start | 201 | 204 | 210 | 210 |
Stub | 19 | 19 | 16 | 17 |
Total | 571 | 613 | 631 | 642 |
ω | 2.92 | 2.88 | 2.87 | 2.87 |
percentage ≥Less than C |
38.5 | 36.4 | 35.8 | 35.4 |
percentage ≥GA or better |
39.8 | 42.1 | 42.2 | 42.2 |
Project News
During the last two months there have been several important discussions of which some are still seeking contributions from members. These include discussions about:
We discovered during December that the Australian Bureau of Meteorology have started to designate the Tropical Lows that form within their region with letter U. It is unclear whether either TCWC Jakarta or TCWC Port Moresby assign any designations to lows that form within their Area of Responsibility.
– Juliancolton Tropical Cyclone 02:59, 4 January 2009 (UTC)
Number 24, March 7
The Hurricane Herald
This is the bi-monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of January 2009 and February 2009.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Cyclone Fanele was the first
cyclone of
tropical cyclone status to strike western
Madagascar since Cyclone Fame one year prior. It formed on January 18 in the
Mozambique Channel, and
rapidly organized, reaching peak winds of 185
km/h (115
mph). It weakened before moving ashore in
Menabe Region southwest of
Morondava, and rapidly deteriorated over land. Fanele briefly re-intensified after reaching open waters, only to become an
extratropical cyclone by January 23. The cyclone caused heavy damage near where it moved ashore and along its path, resulting in at least eight deaths. Fanele struck Madagascar just two days after
Tropical Storm Eric brushed the northeastern portion of the country. The two storms affected over 50,000 people, of which at least 4,000 were left homeless. Fanele struck the country during a series of
government protests, and consequentially relief efforts were hindered.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The member of the month is... HurricaneSpin HurricaneSpin is a relativly new member of the project who has helped the project out by finding photos of Tropical Cyclones and uploading them to Commons. He is still getting to grips with the project but is coming on in leaps and bounds thus we have decided to make him the Member of the Month, for January and February 2009.
New members
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Oct | Nov | Dec | Feb |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 49 | 50 | 50 | 56 |
A | 19 | 19 | 19 | 17 |
GA | 190 | 198 | 202 | 239 |
B | 13 | 21 | 22 | 14 |
C | 119 | 118 | 122 | 122 |
Start | 204 | 210 | 210 | 198 |
Stub | 19 | 16 | 17 | 28 |
Total | 613 | 631 | 642 | 669 |
ω | 2.88 | 2.87 | 2.87 | 2.80 |
percentage ≥Less than C |
36.4 | 35.8 | 35.4 | 33.0 |
percentage ≥GA or better |
42.1 | 42.2 | 42.2 | 46.6 |
Project News
The project reached a milestone in the last two months in terms of article quality for all articles within the project. For the first time, the percentage of
Good articles or better reached more than 1/3, and at the same time, the percentage of Start or Stub articles totaled less than 50%. In the previous twelve months, the overall project grew by 262 articles, of which 204, or 78%, were GA or better. Additionally, in terms of only storm articles, the project now has 46.6% of its articles as GA or better, and only 1/3 are Start or Stub. Unfortunately, much of that is due to newly-created articles easily attaining GA status. For storm articles, the total number of Start or Stub articles, currently 226, is about the same as it was a year ago. The lack of work on older articles is especially noticeable on season articles, where more than 75% of articles are still Stub or Start.
In an attempt to improve articles, there is talk of forming a collaboration between a few Wikipedians. The current project is to improve Hurricane Camille to FA status in time for its 40th anniversary this August. There is still plenty of work to be done, so if you're interested, any help would be appreciated.
Additionally, there is a recent discussion on the WPTC talk page about establishing a notability criteria. There was talk in the past of instating one, although this time the proposal is backed up by interpretations of existing Wikipedia policy. The proposal would limit articles to tropical cyclones that have at least one independent, reliable source other than any warning centers. Excluding cross-basin, off-season, or 64+ knot cyclones, the proposal would affect 26 articles, none of which affected land or lasted for an appreciable amount of time.
Jason Rees ( talk) 01:09, 9 March 2009 (UTC)
Number 25, April 4 The Hurricane Herald This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to provide a summary of both the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclones. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers March 2009. Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles. Storm of the month Hamish indirectly caused a major environmental disaster along the Queensland coastline, when strong waves from the cyclone damaged the hull of a cargo ship, spilling 260 tonnes of fuel and oil into the ocean. The oil washed onto the coastline, endangering the environment prompting a costly cleanup. Offshore, the fishermen went missing after the boat was lost; one person was found, although the other two remained missing and were presumed dead. As the storm remained offshore, overall damage directly from the storm was minor, primarily from strong waves. Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month The member of the month is... Ramisses, has been a member of the Project since January 2008. He is a usefull editor who helps to make the trackmaps for the current season articles, as well as numerous other storms, from previous seasons. We just hope he is able to keep on top of the trackmaps when the busy part of the year comes! New members New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Project News As part of the above discussion, there is a request for all active members to sign a list to affirm they are still active members in the project. If you don't sign the list, or if you don't consider yourself active anymore, your name will be placed on the inactive members list on May 1st. Hurricanehink has organised a challenge to try and improve some of the Tropical cyclone articles. The rules are that you must take either an seasonal or a storm article from one of the eight basins we have, that is either a Stub, Start class or a brand new article and improve it to at least GA status. However to avoid several articles on cyclones that did not affect land, Hurricanehink has limited the challenge to storms/seasonal articles of Mid-importance or higher. Their is an exception to this rule for the Central Pacific as Cyclones rarely form in this basin. - For full details of the challenge see the Project's Talkpage Project member list |
Jason Rees ( talk) 01:29, 5 April 2009 (UTC)
Number 23, June 7
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of April and May 2009.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Cyclone Aila was the second
tropical cyclone to form within the Northern
Indian Ocean during 2009. The disturbance that was to become Cyclone Aila formed on 21 May 2009 about 950 kilometres (590 mi) to the south of
Kolkata, in
India. Over the next couple of days the disturbance slowly developed before a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert was issued by the
Joint Typhoon Warning Center early on 23 May 2009 and being designated as a depression by
RSMC New Delhi. As of 27 May 2009
[update], 330 people have been killed by Aila and at least 8,208 more are missing, while about 1 million are homeless. Health officials in
Bangladesh confirmed a deadly outbreak on diarrhea on 29 May, with more than 7,000 people being infected and four dying. In Bangladesh, an estimated 20 million people were at risk of post-disaster diseases due to Aila. Damage totaled $40.7 million (USD).
Other tropical cyclone activity
Tropical Depression One was the first tropical cyclone to develop during the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season. The depression formed on May 28, out of a disorganized area of low pressure off the coast of North Carolina. However after attaining its peak strength the depression began to weaken due to increasing wind shear and cooling sea surface temperatures with the final advisory being issued on May 29.
Member of the month
The member of the month is Jason Rees, who joined Wikipedia in 2007, and has written nine tropical cyclone GA's. Jason primarily focuses on Southern Hemisphere storms, as well as the Western Pacific. He has plans for featured topics for several seasons, but for now, he is a regular member of the project who adds his input in discussions on the talk page. We thank Jason for his work, and we look forward to more articles!
New members
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 47 | 49 | 49 | 50 |
A | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 |
GA | 161 | 187 | 198 | 202 |
B | 17 | 13 | 21 | 22 |
C | 107 | 119 | 118 | 122 |
Start | 201 | 204 | 210 | 210 |
Stub | 19 | 19 | 16 | 17 |
Total | 571 | 613 | 631 | 642 |
ω | 2.92 | 2.88 | 2.87 | 2.87 |
percentage ≥Less than C |
38.5 | 36.4 | 35.8 | 35.4 |
percentage ≥GA or better |
39.8 | 42.1 | 42.2 | 42.2 |
Project News
There is debate as usual with regards to notability, as well as the status of the project in general, but nothing new is going on.
During the last week, some editors have organized a page — Wikipedia:WikiProject Tropical cyclones/Viewed stats — that has a listing of monthly page views within the project. It is under construction, although it is complete for all Eastern Pacific tropical cyclones, as well as all Atlantic tropical cyclones from 1979 to the present. Interestingly, the top 6 viewed EPAC articles are all featured, and all of the top 16 in the basin are GA's. Unfortunately, the Atlantic, at least from 1979 to the present, is much worse, despite being viewed much, much more. The top eight-viewed Atlantic articles all are viewed more than 10,000 times per month, for a total of 363889 views per month, but only two of them are featured, and none of the others are GA. As always, any help in the retired storms would be greatly appreciated.
Somewhat tying into the bettering of project articles, the basin article challenge is still ongoing. Hurricanehink is currently in the lead with a GA in 2 basins. Cyclonebiskit is in 2nd, with one GA in the EPAC. The challenge is still open to anyone, and it is not so much a race, rather a challenge just to get a fairly important GA in each basin.
The Hurricane Herald This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary of the WikiProject's progress and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers June 2009. Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
From the editors
In recent months, the project has become increasingly inactive; with only a few active participants, we need your help for the upcoming hurricane season! Feel free to contact Hurricanehink ( talk · contribs), Juliancolton ( talk · contribs), Jason Rees ( talk · contribs), or Cyclonebiskit ( talk · contribs) for more information. Thanks! Storm of the month Tropical Storm Linfa formed out of an area of low pressure on June 14, the storm briefly attained tropical depression status before degenerating. By June 17 the system regenerated in the South China Sea. Slowly tracking northward, the storm intensified, attaining severe tropical storm status on June 19 and peaking in intensity the following day. On June 21, Linfa made landfall in Fujian Province, China as a tropical storm before weakening to a tropical depression. In Taiwan, outer bands of the storm produced significant amounts of rain over southeastern areas of the island. Along the western coast, rip currents resulted in the drowning of one person. Six hikers also were reported to be missing. In China, torrential rains triggered flooding that destroyed 100 homes, killed one person and left six others missing. In all, seven people were killed by Linfa, with another 12 missing, damages in mainland China were estimated at ¥655 million (US$95.8 million) and agricultural losses in Taiwan reached NT$400 million (US$12.1 million). Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month The member of the month is Cool3 ( talk · contribs). Though only a new member, Cool3 has contributed hundreds of sources and hours of research to several articles, two of which are now featured. The project thanks him for his high-quality work. New members In addition, three users re-joined the project after being listed as inactive:
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Article statistics
Project News As of 01:42, 4 July 2009 (UTC), there are three featured article candidates; see the noticeboard for more info. A discussion is ongoing at the project talk page ( link) regarding the naming of unnamed tropical cyclones, such as 1978 January subtropical storm and 1975 Pacific Northwest hurricane. While more descriptive titles often constitute original research, official designations are sometimes ambiguous. Comments are welcome. There is also a discussion on how the project rates its articles on the importance scale. Tropical cyclones at associated Wikimedia projects
|
– Juliancolton | Talk 02:11, 4 July 2009 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary of the WikiProject's progress and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers July 2009. Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
From the editors
In recent months, the project has become increasingly inactive; with only a few active participants, we need your help for the upcoming hurricane season! Feel free to contact Juliancolton ( talk · contribs), Jason Rees ( talk · contribs), or Cyclonebiskit ( talk · contribs) for more information. Thanks! Storm of the month Hurricane Carlos was the third named storm of the 2009 Pacific hurricane season. Tropical Depression Four-E formed on July 10, and was quickly upgraded to Tropical Storm Carlos. On July 11, the storm strengthened into a minimal Category 1 hurricane. Following a series of intensity fluctuations, Carlos peaked as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 105 mph (165 km/h). The storm subsequently began to weaken, and on July 16, Carlos degenerated into a remnant low. The cyclone had no known effects on land. Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month The member of the month is Plasticup ( talk · contribs). Plasticup was inactive for most of the winter; however, upon returning this month, he quickly resumed work. Among his recent works are Meteorological history of Hurricane Gustav, a Good Article, and Tropical Storm Gamma (2005), a Good Article nominee. Plasticup was also designated member of the month in July 2008. New members There were no new members in July. However, four users re-joined the project after being listed as inactive:
New and improved articles
Main Page content Hurricane Ioke appeared on the main page in the Today's Featured Article section on July 22. Tropical Storm Dottie (1976) and Tropical Storm Hallie (1975) appeared on the main page in the Did You Know? section on July 13 and July 24, respectively. Article statistics
Project News SchuminWeb ( talk · contribs) pointed out towards the end of the month that hurricane disambiguation pages are often over-categorized. Efforts are currently underway to address this. A discussion is underway at Wikipedia:Featured list candidates/Timeline of the 1987 Atlantic hurricane season/archive1 regarding the use of HURDAT as a reference. Input is appreciated. Tropical cyclones at associated Wikimedia projects
|
– Juliancolton | Talk 03:00, 2 August 2009 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary of the WikiProject's progress and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
From the editors
The project has gone since August without a newsletter, due to a lack of interest in its publication and development. This issue aims to catch up on major events and milestones since late summer 2009, and set a series of goals for the upcoming hurricane seasons. Your help in writing future issues is appreciated. Tropical cyclone activity Typhoons Morakot, Ketsana, and Parma caused extensive damage to China, Taiwan, Philippines, and Vietnam in August and September. Their collective damages total in the billions of dollars and each storm caused hundreds of fatalities. All three of the storms' names were subsequently retired. Member of the month Thegreatdr ( talk · contribs) is thanked for his tireless improvement of high-profile tropical cyclone and general meteorology articles; his production of rainfall maps for individual storms; and for his willingness to share his expertise where needed. Thegreatdr is largely responsible for the project's continued success, and has been instrumental in resolving many debates and discussions. Members New and improved articles Goals for the upcoming season Nonetheless, the project should encourage new editors to get involved; for this purpose the standard Wikipedia:WikiProject Tropical cyclones/Invite template may be used. The project should also make an effort to evaluate existing recognized content. A Project audit of featured articles has been proposed; ideally, each article should be reviewed for continued compliance with the FA criteria. Articles that no longer meet the criteria may be nominated for demotion, or alternatively, improved and updated. Main Page content Article statistics
Project news |
JCbot ( talk) 14:16, 13 April 2010 (UTC)
Number 31, September 10, 2010
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of August 2010.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Hurricane Frank is the storm of the Month.
Tropical Depression Nine-E formed on August 21 south of the Gulf of Tehuantepec. It developed into a tropical storm the following morning. On August 23, Frank continued to intensify, but later faced shear and entered a period of weakening. However, on August 24, as shear decreased, it began to reorganize and strengthen again, becoming a hurricane on August 25. Two days later, Frank weakened into a tropical storm. Rapidly weakening overnight, NHC issued that it have been degraded into an remnant low. The area of low pressure associated with Frank was absorbed with another area of disturbed weather which later developed into Tropical Depression Ten-E.
Throughout Central America, Hurricane Frank produced torrential rain that resulted in at least 30 fatalities, most of which took place in Nicaragua and Honduras. In Guatemala alone, damage from the system was estimated to be up to $500 million. In Mexico, six deaths were reported. A total 30 homes were destroyed with 26 others damaged. Two major roads were damaged with another road blocked due to a landslides. Several rivers overflowed their banks as well. Losses from the storms totaled millions of dollars. Water Currents form a nearby volcano were damaged as well.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The October member of the month is CrazyC83. Since joining the project near its inception, CrazyC83 has been involved in bringing twenty two articles to Good Article status and one article to Featured Article Status. Not only this, he is been working with the [[2010 Atlantic hurricane season 24/7. Our Favorite member Jason Rees looks like he has gone on a short break with the west, but he still continues with the east.
New members
New and improved articles
Storm Basics
Storm article statistics
Tropical cyclone articles by quality and importance | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quality | Importance | ||||||
Top | High | Mid | Low | NA | ??? | Total | |
FA | 3 | 14 | 82 | 60 | 159 | ||
FL | 1 | 4 | 30 | 42 | 77 | ||
FM | 21 | 21 | |||||
A | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||
GA | 10 | 63 | 406 | 661 | 1,140 | ||
B | 9 | 33 | 61 | 61 | 164 | ||
C | 12 | 91 | 249 | 268 | 620 | ||
Start | 2 | 62 | 346 | 419 | 3 | 832 | |
Stub | 6 | 72 | 93 | 171 | |||
List | 2 | 12 | 59 | 577 | 413 | 1,063 | |
Category | 952 | 952 | |||||
Disambig | 2 | 11 | 55 | 68 | |||
File | 7 | 1 | 8 | ||||
Portal | 2 | 202 | 204 | ||||
Project | 98 | 98 | |||||
Redirect | 2 | 9 | 45 | 93 | 149 | ||
Template | 1 | 6 | 27 | 438 | 472 | ||
NA | 1 | 1 | |||||
Other | 1 | 1 | |||||
Assessed | 40 | 279 | 1,276 | 1,753 | 2,439 | 416 | 6,203 |
Unassessed | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
Total | 40 | 280 | 1,276 | 1,754 | 2,441 | 418 | 6,209 |
WikiWork factors ( ?) | ω = 10,441 | Ω = 3.38 |
Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Tropical cyclone storm articles by quality statistics
Tropical cyclone season pages by quality | |
---|---|
Quality | |
Total | |
Assessed | 0 |
Total | 0 |
Project News
The Newsletter has been properly restarted by
Anirudh Emani.
Editorial Member Award
This month the editorial member award has been disputed to
CrazyC83 &
Jason Rees. CrazyC83 has been working mainly with the
2010 Atlantic hurricane season while Jason Rees is working with the
2010 Pacific typhoon season. Jason has also created sandboxes for western Pacific Typhoons and North Indian ocean cyclones,
Rashmi and
Dianmu are a few good examples of this work.
Anirudh Emani (
talk)
08:35, 10 September 2010 (UTC)
Former Featured Articles
Former Featured Pictures
Anirudh Emani ( talk) 11:06, 13 September 2010 (UTC)
Number 32B, October 20, 2010
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all project related events of September 2010 and some events of October 2010
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
'
Typhoon Fanapi' is Storm of the Month
Early on September 14, the JMA reported that a tropical depression had formed east of Taiwan. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center soon designated the depression as 12W with PAGASA naming it Inday shortly thereafter. Later on the same day, the tropical depression was upgraded to a tropical storm and was officially given the name Fanapi by the JMA. On September 16, the storm further intensified into a severe tropical storm. That same day, the JMA further upgraded it into a typhoon. Fanapi turned west and intensified into a category 1 typhoon that night. On the following day, the storm further intensified into a category 2 typhoon. On September 18, the storm further intensified to a Category 3 typhoon and moved straight into Taiwan. It made landfall in Hualien County at 8:40 a.m. (10.40am AEST) on September 19, with winds of 162 kilometres (101 mi) and across the island at a speed of 20km/h. Shortly after its landfall, it moved south and again turned east and rapidly weakened into a Severe Tropical Storm. It had a Category 1 equivalent strength at that time. At 06:00 PM (Local time), the typhoon went back into the ocean. Post Storm Analysis proved that the system stayed on land for 9 hours approximately. The storm made its second landfall at Zhangpu County, Zhangzhou, Fujian province, China, at a Category 1 Typhoon intensity. The Storm caused a large scale damage to Taiwan. In the early hours of September 21, Fanapi weakened into a tropical depression over Guangdong province, China. On Septemner 22, Fanapi dissipated completely.
Other tropical cyclone activity
New members
Articles Requiring Help
Main and Important Articles
Member of the month
Jason Rees is the member of the month - October 2010
To do
Storm article statistics
Tropical cyclone articles by quality and importance | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quality | Importance | ||||||
Top | High | Mid | Low | Other | ??? | Total | |
FA | 6 | 12 | 64 | 66 | 148 | ||
A | 1 | 1 | 9 | 16 | 27 | ||
GA | 8 | 22 | 126 | 259 | 415 | ||
B | 3 | 6 | 21 | 23 | 53 | ||
C | 5 | 23 | 87 | 97 | 212 | ||
Start | 5 | 58 | 232 | 239 | 4 | 538 | |
Stub | 1 | 17 | 94 | 59 | 171 | ||
Current | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 | |||
Future | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
Category | 524 | 1 | 525 | ||||
Disambig | 7 | 581 | 588 | ||||
Template | 167 | 1 | 168 | ||||
Assessed | 29 | 141 | 637 | 770 | 1,294 | 27 | 2,898 |
Unassessed | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
Total | 29 | 141 | 637 | 771 | 1,294 | 29 | 2,901 |
Project News
Volume XIV, Issue 38, August 1, 2019 The Hurricane Herald is the arbitrarily periodical newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006; it has been almost thirteen years since that time. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the mailing list. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from June 1–July 31, 2019. This edition's editor and author is ♫ Hurricanehink ( talk) . Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions can be viewed here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Storm of the month and other tropical activity
Hurricane Barry was the
wettest tropical storm on record in Arkansas, and one of only four hurricanes to strike Louisiana in July. Originating from a
trough over the southeastern United States, Barry formed on July 11 off the southeast Louisiana coast. Despite wind shear and an asymmetrical structure, the storm intensified into a minimal hurricane before making
landfall near
Intracoastal City, Louisiana. Barry dropped heavy rainfall from the Gulf of Mexico to the Ohio Valley, peaking at 23.43 in (595 mm) near
Ragley, Louisiana. The storm caused flooding rains, power outages, and one death due to rip currents. Damage totaled over US$500 million.
Member of the month (edition) – TheAustinMan TheAustinMan has been involved with WPTC since 2009. Since the last newsletter, TheAustinMan worked on the Storm of the Month (Barry), as well as 1915 Galveston hurricane, Typhoon Alice (1979), 1937 Atlantic hurricane season, 1944 Jamaica hurricane, and the 1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane. A prolific editor, TheAustinMan has contributed to three featured articles and 46 good articles. Thank you for your contributions! New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter in June/July 2019 More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue in May 2019. Sorted chronologically. Struckout users denote users who have left or have been banned.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions! Current assessment table Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See
here for the latest, most up to date statistics.
Sourcing guidelines, by TheAustinMan The core content policies on Wikipedia ( neutral point of view, no original research, and verifiability) all apply to articles tagged by WikiProject Tropical cyclones. The project's style guidelines also provide information on how to cite sources effectively. Relevant guidelines discussing the WikiProject's tropical meteorology articles may also be found at WP:SCICITE and WP:SCIRS. Reports, bulletins, and other products issued by Regional Specialized Meteorological Centers are the authoritative source on meteorological information pertaining to tropical cyclones in their respective basins. This includes both quantitative and qualitative information about a storm's characteristics, including intensities, durations, and locations. The most recent post-storm assessments take precedence over operational data. Thus, post-season revisions to a storm's "best track" file, new information presented in a tropical cyclone report, or official database adjustments made by the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project, or other official reanalyses supersede operational information where they disagree. Data in operational RSMC products can still be used if later data does not dispute them. Information from other public agencies can also be used, but generally require in-text attribution. While the original best track data from meteorological agencies is a reliable source and can be referenced, readers often find difficulty interpreting them. Consider using IBTrACS, a more easily understandable track database, which is endorsed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), for this information. Because the Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecasting System (ATCF) used by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center and National Hurricane Center is liable to change frequently in realtime, they should not be used for currently active storms. Forecasts from these agencies and RSMCs should only be used to cite the forecasts themselves; in other words, they can only be used to describe what was expected to occur, and never to describe what did occur. Maps and other graphics published by meteorological agencies may be used to describe events (see the associated essay). However, they should only be referenced if they are explicit in conveying the supported information and do not require any rigorous meteorological interpretation (such as satellite analysis or drawing conclusions over what the arrangement of meteorological features represents). In general, self-published sources should not be used as sources for present or historical storm intensities. However, information contained in articles from reliable sources or commentary from established tropical cyclone experts can be used as sources for information not covered by WMO-endorsed agencies. If such sources dispute WMO-endorsed meteorological data, commentary on the disputed information may be used, making sure to attribute claims and giving due weight. Storm effects are typically referenced with a wide array of published sources. These may include news organizations, risk assessment organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGO), government agencies, and impact databases. So long as they are reliable sources, they can be used as references for tropical cyclone impacts. Note that figures from early impact reports, often disseminated by the first NGO situation reports and news reports, may quickly be outdated in light of newer information. When sourcing damage totals or casualty figures, use the most recent value from a reliable source, as these values tend to be more stable and use more up-to-date information. If such figures are disputed by other reliable sources, this should be noted in the article, making sure to attribute claims and giving due weight. Routine calculations of damage and casualty figures (for instance, adding casualties from different countries) are acceptable as long as they arise from reliable sources. Latest WikiProject Alerts The following are the latest article developments as updated by AAlertBot, as of the publishing of this issue. Due to the bot workings, some of these updates may seem out of place; nonetheless, they are included here. Today's featured article requests
Featured article candidates
Featured list candidates
Good article nominees
Good article reassessments
Requested moves
Articles to be merged
Updated daily by
AAlertBot —
Discuss? /
Report bug? /
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Click to watch (Subscribe via RSS Atom) · Find Article Alerts for other topics! From the Main Page From the Main Page documents WikiProject related materials that have appeared on the main page from April 14–May 31, 2019 in chronological order.
History of WikiProject Tropical cyclones The article for hurricane ( tropical cyclone) was created on December 2, 2001. On October 3, 2002, User:Ed Poor created an article for Hurricane Lili while the storm was active and near peak intensity; since then, 163 other people have edited the article to help make it a . In March 2004, User:BigT27 created an article for the hyperactive 1995 Atlantic hurricane season, then the 3rd most-active Atlantic hurricane season on record. On August 14 of that year, an article was created for Hurricane Iniki, the first non-Atlantic storm, and on August 31, the 1900 Galveston hurricane became the first TC-related . On October 4, 2004, Cyclone Tracy became featured, which was the 2nd FA in the project. A week later, User:Golbez created the article for 2004 Pacific hurricane season, which was the first season article for the EPAC. On May 19, 2005, User:Tom created Template:Infobox Hurricane, which standardized the infobox that appears in every storm article. On July 20, User:Skywayman created the article for the 2005 Pacific typhoon season, which became the third basin to get season articles. On July 31, User:Holderca1 created the article for 2004-05 Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone season – for the first several years on Wikipedia, the SHEM was handled in a singular article, but was split into SWIO, AUS, and SPAC beginning on April 16, 2007, and finished on April 21, 2013. During the hyperactive 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, articles were created quickly for the most powerful storms, including Hurricane Dennis which quickly became an FA. On August 26, 2005, User:CrazyC83 created an article for Hurricane Katrina after the legendary storm crossed over southern Florida. By two days later, there were 500 edits to the article, and the hurricane was threatening to hit New Orleans as a Category 4 or 5. We now know it was “only” a Category 3 at landfall. In the 14 years since Katrina, there have been 6,327 editors to the Hurricane Katrina article, along with 23 sub-articles. During the 2005 season, there were debates among editors whether lesser notable storms, like Hurricane Cindy (2005), should have articles. At one point in 2006, there were articles for every named storm during the 2005 AHS, but in the 13 years since then, articles for tropical storms Franklin, Harvey, and Lee, and Philippe were created and merged. As a way to coordinate edits among the tropical cyclone pages, User:Jdorje created Template:Hurricane on September 12, 2005. This is the same template that appears on the talk pages for every article in the WPTC. On October 5, Jdorje officially created WP:WPTC, the tropical cyclone WikiProject. That October, in quick succession, the Atlantic hurricane seasons reached back to the beginning of recordkeeping (before 1600s) due to a collaboration of several editors; User:RattleMan created the first season article for the North Indian Ocean; User:Miss Madeline successfully nominated List of California hurricanes for featured list; and Jdorje created a a standardized storm path template. In 2006, a series of users improved articles worldwide to featured article status. Professional met David Roth joined the project, and in the same year, the NOAA and NHC copied some material from Wikipedia, including track maps, and the Tropical Cyclone Report for Tropical Storm Chris (2006). In June 2006, User:Nilfanion created the project assessment page, which documents the status of every article, organized by basin, the year, and storm shaded by the quality. On August 1, the chat room on IRC for the project was created, which allowed real-time communication among editors. There’s something special about conversing with fellow weather geeks during an epic storm, which seems to have become all the more common. On January 1, 2007, the number of good articles in the project reached 100. On January 29th, a collaboration of users made the List of retired Pacific hurricane names the first featured topic in the project. It was joined by the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season in March 2007. In 2008, further collaborations helped make the article for tropical cyclone a featured article, one of 100 FA’s in the project. Notably among project members, Tropical Storm Erick (2007) became featured on December 14, 2008. The storm lasted for a short amount of time over open waters, and as such, it was the shortest featured article anywhere on Wikipedia. Users questioned whether the storm was notable enough to have such a detailed article, but the article described the storm in articulate detail. After an AFD and two featured article review (and a series of low-notability storms being merged), Erick was delisted as a featured article on March 2, 2013. In the period from 2008 to 2013, users created task forces for various basins, articles for all of the seasons in the Atlantic and EPAC, and enough high-quality articles that more than half of all storm/season articles were good or featured articles. In January 2008, there were 1000 articles in the entire project. On January 1, 2014, User:Yellow Evan created Typhoon Nancy (1982), which was the 2000th article in the project. In October 2008, there were 100 FA’s in the project, which reached 200 on November 28, 2015, with Hurricane Fay (2014). By March 2016, every basin had at least 100 storm articles, multiple featured articles, and season articles of various quality.
This section lists content that have become featured, articles and lists, since the past newsletter in mid-April 2019.
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments
New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include: WikiProject To-Do Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
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Volume XIV, Issue 39, March 17, 2020 The Hurricane Herald: Special
St. Patrick's Day and
COVID-19 edition!
The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006; it has been almost thirteen years since that time. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the mailing list. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from August 1, 2019–March 17, 2020. This edition's editor and author is ♫ Hurricanehink ( talk). Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions can be viewed here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments
New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include:
The 1988 and 2015 Pacific seasons are now good topics. Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue in May 2019. Sorted chronologically. Struckout users denote users who have left or have been banned.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions! Latest WikiProject Alerts The following are the latest article developments as updated by AAlertBot, as of the publishing of this issue. Due to the bot workings, some of these updates may seem out of place; nonetheless, they are included here. Today's featured article requests
Featured article candidates
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Click to watch (Subscribe via RSS Atom) · Find Article Alerts for other topics! Storm of the month and other tropical activity for August
Typhoon Lekima became China's costliest typhoon ever recorded when it struck the country in early August, leaving 90 fatalities and over $9 billion in damage.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for September
Hurricane Dorian was the strongest hurricane on record to strike The Bahamas, and was regarded as the worst natural disaster in the country's history. Dorian formed on August 24, and moved through the Caribbean as an intensifying storm. On September 1, Dorian hit
Great Abaco Island with sustained winds of 185 mph (295 km/h), and struck
Grand Bahama Island at the same intensity a day later. Dorian killed 58 people and left $7 billion in damage to the island nation. The hurricane later struck North Carolina as a minimal hurricane, and Nova Scotia as a post-tropical cyclone.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for October Typhoon Hagibis was considered the most devastating typhoon to hit the Kantō region of Japan since Ida in 1958. It struck near Tokyo on October 12, triggering heavy rainfall and landslides. Hagibis killed 95 people along its path and left about US$9 billion in damage.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for November Cyclone Bulbul formed in the Bay of Bengal from the remnants of Tropical Storm Matmo, which struck Vietnam in late October. Bulbul intensified into the record-breaking sixth very intense tropical cyclone (the NIO equivalent to a hurricane). On November 9, Bulbul made landfall near the India/Bangladesh border, killing 38 people and leaving US$2.6 billion in damage.
Member of the month (edition) – ChocolateTrain ChocolateTrain first joined Wikipedia in April 2017. An Australian native, he is already a prolific writer on the Australian basin, and is responsible for half the edits to the current Australian cyclone season. ChocolateTrain wrote good articles on Cyclone Lili (2019) and Cyclone Nora, plus several articles that are C-class. We thank ChocolateTrain for his edits, and hopes he keeps writing about southern hemisphere storms! From the Main Page documents WikiProject related materials that have appeared on the main page from August 1, 2019–March 17, 2020 in chronological order.
From August 1, 2019–March 17, 2020, one featured list and three featured articles were promoted: Current assessment table Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See
here for the latest, most up to date statistics.
There is a discussion about getting rid of redirect and list-class articles. WikiProject To-Do Collaborating - AKA the right kind of sharing, by
User:Hurricanehink There are other kinds of collaborations. Recently, users Juliancolton and TropicalAnalystwx13 wrote Tropical Storm Kirk (2018) together. Each year, the season articles are written by many editors, by folks who add the latest satellite imagery or track. There are others who document the storm's journey, and what impacts they left. When a major storm is threatening a landmass (especially the United States), users edit from IP addresses far and wide to add the latest information. Unfortunately, some of these big storm articles languish, because they're written in real time without historical perspective, and the websites might no longer be up and running a few years later. Don't get me wrong, I know the excitement of being the first to write on Wikipedia when the NHC classifies something. However, there are lots of older articles that end up half-finished, or with broken weblinks. Thankfully we have the web archive. We see the disruption that Covid-19 is causing in our world right now. Yea, it sucks to have everything canceled, for schools and bars and gyms and restaurants to be shut down. Some people experience that same feeling every few years when a hurricane/typhoon/cyclone strikes. It's easy writing/researching about these furious beasts of nature when we're in the comfort of our own home/office/library/school. And sometimes it's uncomfortable seeing how we rebuild. After every storm, there is help, often from the government. Politics have made my country turn fearful and hateful, and so I have to choose my words carefully. When nature is at its worst, my government is there after when people need it the most, providing financial assistance, logistical support, and a sense of national unity. This pandemic is making a lot of people fearful of the unknown, how bad that unstoppable force will be. A lot of us may be stuck at home right now with a sense of fear and too much time on our hands. Consider, then, the spirit of collaboration, working together to document the world around us. If you're reading this, you are likely interested in meteorology. Go improve an article then. Now. Do it. :P Stop reading this and find an article you're interested in, and make it better. <3
Tropical cyclones by year The storms in 2019 represent about 0.116% of the known tropical cyclones on Wikipedia. We're aware of around 12,000 tropical cyclones; about one-third were in the Western Pacific, where storms have killed more than 1.4 million people. Storms in the western Pacific date back to the year 957, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. In the Atlantic, we know of 2,443 tropical cyclones, dating back to 1494, and Christopher Columbus's 2nd voyage to the New World; however, paleotempestological evidence] of storms date back to 1330 BC. In the eastern Pacific, storms date back to 1537, when a hurricane struck Mexico and was recorded by a missionary. Storms in the South Pacific Ocean date back to 1568, and in the South Indian Ocean to 1615. Wikipedia coverage in the North Indian Ocean goes back to 1721. Storm of the month and other tropical activity for December Cyclone Ambali was the first very intense tropical cyclone in the South-west Indian Ocean since Cyclone Fantala in 2016. It formed on December 3 as part of a series of storms in the western Indian Ocean in both hemispheres. Ambali's winds increased by 185 km/h (115 mph) in 24 hours, marking the fastest 24-hour intensification recorded in the Southern Hemisphere. The storm rapidly weakened after its peak, degenerating into a remnant low by December 8.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for January Cyclone Tino was part of a broader convergence zone that affected ten South Pacific countries. Tino formed on January 11, and passed near Fiji on January 17 with winds of 120 km/h (75 mph), where two people were left missing. Tino became extratropical two days later.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for February Cyclone Damien struck Western Australia near Karratha on February 8, having originated from a monsoon trough five days later. Damien caused localized flooding and power outages.
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Volume XL, Issue 40, May 1, 2020 The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the mailing list. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from March 17 to April 30, 2020. This edition's editor and author is Hurricanehink. Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions can be viewed here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments
New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include:
WikiProject To-Do
Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for March
Cyclone Herold (not to be confused with April's storm of the month) was an intense tropical cyclone in the southwest Indian Ocean. It formed near northeastern Madagascar, where its flooding killed five people. Herold later passed between the islands of
Mauritius and
Rodrigues before becoming extratropical.
Member of the month (edition) – TropicalAnalystwx13 TropicalAnalystwx13 first joined Wikipedia in September 2010. A long-time writer, TropicalAnalystwx13 (or TAWX13) is a prolific writer about tropical cyclones and tornadoes. Since the last newsletter, he worked on Hurricane Humberto (2019), now a featured article, as well as good articles for Tropical Storm Olga (2019), 1938 Atlantic hurricane season, and 1934 Atlantic hurricane season. We thank TropicalAnalystwx13 for his many edits, and hope he keeps up the good work! New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue. Sorted chronologically.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions!
From March 17 to present, five featured articles were promoted:
There are currently three featured article candidates: From the Main Page documents WikiProject related materials that have appeared on the main page from March 17–April 30, 2020 in chronological order.
Storms around the world, by
Jason Rees We have had some early success with this goal with information from Category 5 South Pacific severe tropical cyclones being used by a Facebook page after Cyclone Harold. However, we need help developing these articles since there are approximately 150 countries impacted by tropical cyclones and there are approximately 15 tropical cyclones off all intensities per basin per year. You can help by finding resources for us to use, going through IBTRACS and the various databases published by the warning centres or even helping to expand the various articles. ''Opinion piece - , by
Chicdat As a reader: I first became interested in hurricanes when the buzz on
Hurricane Dorian making landfall in
the Bahamas came out at the end of August 2019. I was interested to know more about Dorian, but not too much. I went onto the solution page:
2019 Atlantic hurricane season, one of the first pages I saw on Wikipedia (that's where I got my signature, 🐔
Chic
dat
Chicken
Database, the Chicken links to 2019 AHS). As hurricane season continued, I "experienced" every single storm from Dorian to Sebastien. After hurricane season in the Atlantic ended, I turned my eyes to the
Southern Hemisphere. By the beginning of 2020, I was even delving into
FAs,
GAs, and
stubs. Current assessment table Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See
here for the latest, most up to date statistics.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for April
Cyclone Harold was a Category 5 storm on both the Saffir-Simpson and the Australian scale. The storm formed near the
Solomon Islands on April 1, where high waves drowned 27 people on the MV Taimareho ferry. Near peak intensity, Harold struck the South Pacific island nation of
Vanuatu, causing widespread damage and disruptions amid the ongoing pandemic, as well as two deaths. Harold later passed south of the main island of
Fiji, resulting in power outages and one fatality. The storm subsequently passed just south of
Tonga, causing power outages and high tides.
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The Hurricane Herald: Special Hurricane Season/New SHEM Cyclone Year Edition!
The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the mailing list. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from May 1–July 1, 2020. This edition's editors and authors are Chicdat and Hurricanehink. Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions can be viewed here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments NEWS New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include: WikiProject To-Do Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
2018 Featured Topic Hurricane Noah recently announced an initiative to get a featured topic for the year of 2018 with complete subtopics. The Eastern Pacific portion is very close to achieving a featured topic, and the Atlantic and North Indian Ocean are around a B-class average. The Western Pacific, Southern Hemisphere, and the global article for 2018 need your help! A lot of work is needed to get those three items up to par. For more information on which articles need specifically, please check out the project talk page. Getting a featured topic for an entire year would be an impressive feat for our project.
I want to invite you all to sing Auld Lang Syne with me and open up the egg nog with me as today July 1, 2020, marks the formal start of the 2020-21 tropical cyclone year, as well as the start of the season in the South-West Indian Ocean. As a result, it is a good chance to look back at the previous TC year and look forward to the season starting on November 1. As things stand, it appears that the status of the El Nino Southern Oscillation will either be La Nina or neutral conditions leaning towards La Nina. As a result, I would expect more activity to occur within the Coral Sea, near Queensland rather than out towards French Polynesia. On a social basis, the biggest question this year will be how will the island nations deal will Covid 19 and a major tropical cyclone - assuming it's still around in November. We got an early taster of how Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga will deal with it thanks Severe Tropical Cyclone Harold.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for May Cyclone Amphan was the second Category 5-equivalent tropical cyclone of 2020, and the first tropical cyclone of the 2020 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. It formed in the southern Bay of Bengal, and made landfall on Odisha and Bangladesh, killing 128 people. It was a very strong super cyclonic storm. It was also the costliest North Indian Ocean tropical cyclone in recorded history, shattering the record held by Cyclone Nargis, after it left US$13.6 billion in damage.
Member of the month (edition) – KN2731 KN2731 first joined Wikipedia in 2015, and has contributed to/written 13 good articles in the project. Recently, he has contributed to the project-wide goal of improving tropical cyclones in 2018 to a featured topic, including tropical storms Sanba, Bolaven, and Ewiniar, plus Typhoon Maria. KN2731 has also worked in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific, and contributed to two featured lists – Timeline of the 2015 Pacific hurricane season and List of Category 3 Pacific hurricanes. We thank KN2731 for his many edits, and hope he keeps up the good work! New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue. Sorted chronologically.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions!
From May 1 to present, two featured articles were promoted: From the Main Page documents WikiProject related materials that have appeared on the main page from May 1–June 30, 2020 in chronological order. There are currently two featured article canidates: OPINION PIECE, by Chicdat When a new storm undergoes rapid intensification and makes landfall, the members of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones try hard to create an article for it. Suddenly, the storm goes back out to sea again and makes landfall somewhere different. In one 20-kilobyte edit, Hurricaneboy23, let's say, adds in more information about this landfall, but not before the storm undergoes a cyclonic loop and makes a third landfall. As the article gets huge and bloated, it's split. The story above is fictional, but things like it happen often, like in Cyclone Amphan's revision history. For Wikipedia to have an accurate coverage of tropical cyclones, there need to be enough members to put the new information — boosted by reliable sources, of course — into the article. So, if you haven't already, go to WP:WPTC/MEMBER and add your name! 🐔 Chic dat Chicken Database Burnout - an opinion piece by ♫
Hurricanehink (
talk) When you edit for too long, you might find that you can't finish that list of projects you wanted to work on. It is better to take a break from what you were working on, and try something different (maybe not even weather-related) so that editing becomes enjoyable again. There's no sense getting burned out and stressed. The work will eventually get done on Wikipedia. Some projects are in much worse shape, but improving slowly but surely. The WPTC has a leg up on other projects because we have such a passionate group of editors and writers. It's better for the long run to take a break, focus on RL, get some sun, have a laugh, and do whatever you can to stay sane these days. Current assessment table Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See
here for the latest, most up to date statistics.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for June Tropical Storm Cristobal formed on June 1 in the Bay of Campeche from the remnants of Amanda in the eastern Pacific. Cristobal looped over the Yucatán peninsula before progressing northward, striking Louisiana on June 7, marking the second-earliest landfall on record in the state. The system moved through the central United States, eventually becoming extratropical over Wisconsin. Cristobal killed four people and left US$343 million in damage.
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The Hurricane Herald: 15th Anniversary Edition!
The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the mailing list. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from September 1–October 5, 2020, which is the 15th anniversary of the WPTC. This edition's editors and authors are ChessEric, Chicdat, Destroyeraa, Hurricanehink, and our member of the month, SMB99thx! Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions can be viewed here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments
New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include: WikiProject To-Do
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for September (and the first 5 days of October) Ianos, was a Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone, also known as a Medicane. The Mediterranean isn't officially a tropical cyclone basin, so there aren't any official intensity estimates for the storm. The system originated from a low pressure area north of Libya, and it developed organized convection while moving northeastward. On September 18, Ianos struck the Greek island of Cephalonia, and later moved across the Greek mainland. The World Meteorological Organization mentioned the medicane and its similarities to tropical cyclones. Although these medicanes are unofficial, Wikipedia covers them like other tropical cyclones, using the same reliable sources and news articles to document the event. As Ianos was created, not many users edited it, as coverage of tropical cyclones and storms outside of main development regions are, unfortunately, low. However, as Ianos was nominated and posted at ITN, a current news section on the main page, many users outside of the TC WikiProject began working on it, As these storms are becoming more common and better documented, these storms may be officially classified in the future.
Member of the month (edition) – SMB99thx SMB99thx first joined Wikipedia in 2013, but didn't officially join the WPTC until August 2020. Since then, they have been a prolific contributor, helping with less visible pages such as project talk pages, or splitting older season articles in the North Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific. They are a such a tireless contributor and kind user, who appreciates others' contributions while being humble about their own. It was SMB99thx who gave barnstars along with kind and encouraging messages to countless other WPTC contributors and Wikipedians. SMB99thx also worked on several lists, including area affects lists, various drafts, and List of named storms (T). We'll take that T and say TY to SMB99thx for all of their contributions, and wish them luck at college. New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue. Sorted chronologically.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions!
From September 1 to October 5, one featured article was promoted: From the Main Page documents WikiProject related materials that have appeared on the main page from September 1–October 5, 2020 in chronological order. There is currently one featured article candidate: How WikiProject Tropical cyclones should move forward by SMB99thx As we have seen in the month of August and September, there is a surge of new articles. Most of these new articles are season/decade articles and Pacific typhoon articles, and most of these articles are assessed by me as either Start-class or Stub-class. These articles I believe would have been rejected by WikiProject Tropical cyclones in the earlier years (especially 2008-2012) - and these reflected the changes in WikiProject Tropical cyclones after I joined in July 2020. In order to counteract that surge of Start-class and Stub-class articles in recent months, I have been closely working on the Article requests page (used to be a primary contributor of the surge that happened in August and September), trying to make this recently-extended WikiProject 15th anniversary as some serious effort as well as revamping WikiProject To-Do (and completing some, but not all tasks) - and the results of my work on these three projects led into the explosive growth of the WikiProject Tropical cyclones draftspace (I tried to prevent this by publishing the half-finished drafts into mainspace (which is primarily composed of C-class with some speck of Start-class articles coming out of it, and these are the ones that aren't as obviously unfinished like Draft:Effects of Hurricane Dorian on the Mainland United States), and made several drafts on articles that are not considered notable like Draft:Hurricane Barbara (2019) into redirects or deleted, but there is less kinds of these drafts now) as well as discovery of several drafts that isn't done by this point or are not listed as part of WikiProject Tropical cyclones. These drafts are later linked to the Article requests page. I don't my work is done yet, and in order to consider that effectively done, I need to get these drafts done and submitted as C-class or higher. However, there is a personal problem I had to face in order to getting this work done when I'm still new to WikiProject Tropical cyclones. Article creation from drafts are not my strength. I create articles mostly from splits, not from drafts. As such, I consider article creation from drafts to be personally tedious work. As our 15th anniversary gets near, it appears that things are changing. As the draft space exploded, it appears fellow WikiProject Tropical cyclones are helping me out in getting these drafts complete, especially Destroyeraa (helping me out in deciding which drafts can pass the cut), ChessEric (working on Draft:Tropical Storm Noul (2020)), Robloxsupersuperhappyface (for developing current events articles, alongside ChessEric), I like hurricanes (Tropical cyclone lists), Chicdat (for the work on Tropical cyclones in 2002 and will probably work on others), Janm 7 (for working on Tropical cyclones in 2011 and 2003), and Iseriously (for useful season summaries, and this isn't a WPTC member!). I also began to frequently give out barnstars to these hard-working people like Jason Rees and Hurricanehink. These events led me to believe that, if this WikiProject has to move forward then in my opinion this WikiProject should:
Thanks for reading this opinion piece! And happy 15th anniversary, WikiProject Tropical cyclones! OPINION PIECE - by ChessEric Accuracy has always been one of my biggest sticking points when it comes to editing on Wikipedia. When I came here back in April, my first edit was a revert of misinformation on the 2020 Easter tornado outbreak article. Of course, I understand that as a relatively new user, I still have a lot to learn and I don't profess to know everything, even after I started several large projects that I will probably be working on for quite some time. My first tornado outbreak pages used only the Tornado History Projects which, while generally good for tornado tracks, provides no damage info and if weren't for editors like CapeVerdeWave and Halls4521, my "breakthrough" articles would be so incomplete. However, I've been able to research more and more and find ways to complete these articles and that has carried over into the tropical cyclone projects as well. My thing has always been is that If I can't find a source for it, then it's not true. I will continue to follow that motto and hope that others will do the same. Current assessment table Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See
here for the latest, most up to date statistics.
Comparison of 2005 and 2020 WikiProject Tropical cyclones was founded on October 5, 2005. By that time, Wikipedia had its small share of articles, including the four deadly hurricanes that hit the United States in 2004. The hyperactive 2005 Atlantic hurricane season featured a series of deadly and historic hurricanes, the first of which was Hurricane Dennis. This is how the article looked on 10/5/05. It might not look like much, considering how much larger storm articles tend to be today. However, Dennis quickly became a featured article by February 2006. Its quality showed a marked improvement from the 2004 hurricanes. For comparison, here is what Hurricane Charley looked like on 10/5/05, with barely any references, no preparations, no aftermath, and one sentence worth of impact for a location with $1 billion in damage. The busy 2005 season featured Hurricane Katrina, and in the aftermath of the storm, dozens of articles related to the hurricane were created. Some still exist, such as Katrina refrigerator, Memorial Medical Center and Hurricane Katrina, and Effect of Hurricane Katrina on the Louisiana Superdome. I don't know if those hyper-specific articles would be created today, and many of these old articles are still of low quality. On the other hand, one of the most notable changes since 2005 is the improvement in articles throughout Wikipedia, both new and old. Every Atlantic season from 1945 to 2019 is a good article, and all but 31 seasons since 1851 are a good article. More impressive is how much other basins around the world have improved. As of June 2006 ( the oldest date for our assessment tables), the EPAC only had articles back to 1970, WPAC with yearly articles back to 1945 (with a rump article for everything beforehand - there are now decade articles going back to 1850), and the NIO only had one yearly season article (with five-yearly articles going back to 1980, and one rump article for everything beforehand), with only six storm articles. There are now yearly NIO articles going back to 1960. Also as of June 2006, all SHEM storms were put into yearly articles going back to 1995, with three five-yearly articles going back to 1980, and then one article for everything beforehand. The SHEM is now split into its three sub-basins (plus a distinct article for SATL storms), with yearly articles back to 1970. There are also now yearly articles for tropical cyclones back to 2009. 15 years might not feel like much, or for some of you it's an entire lifetime. Users should be reminded of eventualism, in work will improve over time, especially with sustained editor attention. There are now over 2,000 articles in the project, versus less than 500 15 years ago, or 1000 10 years ago, or 1500 13 years ago. The project's growth hasn't always been even, but it has trended toward inclusion, with hundreds of articles that are the best resources available anywhere on a given storm/season/topic. As Mother Nature throws us hyperactive seasons, it will be difficult, but not impossible, to keep up with the annual cycle of tropical cyclone activity, so the world can remain informed of these swirling furies. Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
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The Hurricane Herald: Happy
Thanksgiving Edition!
The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the mailing list. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from October 5–November 30, 2020. This edition's editors and authors are SMB99thx, Weatherman27, Chicdat, Hurricanehink, Cyclone Toby, Typhoon2013, and ChessEric. Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions can be viewed here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include:
From October 5 to November 30, two featured articles were promoted: From the Main Page documents WikiProject related materials that have appeared on the main page from October 5–November 30, 2020 in chronological order. There is currently one featured article candidate: WikiProject To-Do
Current assessment table Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See
here for the latest, most up to date statistics.
Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
Storms of the month and other tropical activity for October and November SotM for October:
Typhoon Goni / Rolly SotM for November:
Hurricane Iota
The active Atlantic hurricane season continued. In early October, Tropical Storm Gamma dissipated over the northern Yucatan and was absorbed by powerful Hurricane Delta, which was the season's third major hurricane. Delta weakened before hitting Quintana Roo, but restrengthened in the Gulf of Mexico, later hitting Louisiana as a low-end Category 2 hurricane in nearly the same location as Hurricane Laura in August. Delta killed six people and left US$4 billion in damage. A few days later, Hurricane Epsilon developed southeast of Bermuda, becoming a major hurricane and brushing the island to the east. Hurricane Zeta followed a similar path as Delta, striking Quintana Roo and later striking southeastern Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane; it killed 8 people and left U$3 billion in damage. At the end of the month, Hurricane Eta developed, becoming a strong Category 4 hurricane before striking Nicaragua. After killing hundreds of people in Central America, Eta reformed in the northwestern Caribbean. It made another landfall in Cuba, moved over the Florida Keys, and briefly became a hurricane again in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, before weakening and striking Cedar Key, Florida as a tropical storm. In early November, Tropical Storm Theta developed from a non-tropical low and moved across the eastern Atlantic.
Member of the month (edition) – Robloxsupersuperhappyface Robloxsupersuperhappyface joined Wikipedia in July of this year, and has become the most prolific tropical cyclone editor relating to current events, as well as playing an enormous role in creation of newly formed tropical cyclones that eventually became destructive in many regions they are affected in ( Hurricane Sally to Gulf Coast of the United States, Typhoon Goni to the Philippines, and Hurricane Iota to Central America respectively - Also, both Goni and Iota are Storms of the Month!). Because of that reason, Robloxsupersuperhappyface's articles are the one of the most viewed tropical cyclone articles in this year - as well as helped us on inviting prospective tropical cyclone editors to this project as they edited Robloxsupersuperhappyface's articles, leading into why we have more than 100 members in this WikiProject leading to this issue. As the result of brilliant Robloxsupersuperhappyface's contributions, we want to give many, many thanks to Super for helping this WikiProject grow so much recently. Happy Thanksgiving! New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter - project membership is over 100 now! More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue. Sorted chronologically in order of which they joined.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions! Let's talk about that - An opinion piece by Weatherman27 Before I start, I would like to link everyone to a new essay regarding Force Thirteen. Here it is: WP:F13. I recommend users (old and new) to read this to understand why we don't use Force Thirteen as a source, and why it isn't a reliable source. If you want to see what good reliable sources are, read this: WP:WPTC/AS Now, I will get to the main point of this opinion piece. Recently, I have gotten more involved in talk pages, and sharing my ideas and/or my opinions on different issues or ideas that have come up, primarily on 2020 Atlantic hurricane season's talk page. As I have discussed these thoughts and ideas with other editors, I have noticed and experienced some things such as being personally attacked, which has led me to want to reiterated some key points here. Despite the fact that they are mentioned commonly at the top of talk pages, I want to bring these up as it is important to have a good base where people can properly chat and discuss topics in peace. 1. Treat others with respect This one can't be stressed enough. Especially on talk pages, it is a place where you and your peers communicate issues, opinions, or ideas to each-other. This means discussing topics in a kind and adult manner. There is nothing wrong with disagreeing in what somebody may say, but that does not mean that you have the right to put them down for not having similar views. It is simply the Golden Rule. 2. Assume Good faith Along with my first point, I feel this one needs to be brought up. People have different opinions, and that is all right, but just because you may not agree with it or what they say, does not mean that it was not out of good faith. They were most likely voicing what they think on the subject, and that is alright. This also goes for edits. Unless it is pretty obvious that a user as vandalized something, it is always good to assume good faith, as other people might not know the rules as well as a more experienced editor. 3. Avoid Personal attacks This is a very important subject that needs to be remembered not just on talk pages, but on all other parts of Wikipedia as well. On talk pages, discussions can get pretty tense and heated, and I admit that I have gotten into a few of these arguments as well. Despite this, it is never okay to attack someone. As a user who has gotten personally attacked before, I can definitely say that it does not feel good, and usually the person who made the attacked will get warned or blocked, so please be kind and accept what other people have to say, because you will get nowhere by being rude. 4. Come to a consensus (preferably a clear one) On talk pages, whenever there is a discussion regarding something important like the merging of an article, people need to decide what the outcome of something important on a talk page. For example, if there is say, a merge discussion for an article on a tropical cyclone, many people will give their input. Usually, different people will have different views on whether to merge or keep the article. Sometimes, the editor will close the discussion early, but this is usually for unrelated reasons, though it sometimes may be because the editor had a change of mind. Now, if there is support for say a merge of the article, then that will be the consensus and the discussion will be closed and the article merged. This can also happen on the opposite side, if an article is to be kept, the discussion will be closed and article kept. Simply put, it is important to discuss and come to a clear decision if there is a consensus involved, to avoid difficulty with the article or page in the future. These are just a few examples of things that editors of the WPTC need to remember when using talk page discussions. There are plenty of other things not mentioned here that are just as important when it comes to using talk pages. I made this simply to help remind editors the key points when using the discussions, and I hope these were helpful to new users as well as veterans. We need to really get better at staying calm and keeping civil. I have noticed lots of hostility and arguing lately, as well as edit warring and disputes. We need to work this out. We are supposed to work together as WPTC editors, so please fix it. It is sad seeing so many editors getting reported or having to get blocked from this. Once again, keep discussions civil and have a good day. Signing off, 🌀 Weatherman27🏈 My experiences as a WikiProject Tropical cyclones member by SMB99thx Hello again, people of the WikiProject Tropical cyclones! In here, I want to tell how my experiences with WikiProject Tropical Cyclones changed my views on WikiProjects, helped me out of trouble and to be able to regain the trust of many people in Wikipedia. When I joined WikiProject Tropical cyclones, it was the second WikiProject I have ever joined. The first WikiProject I have ever joined is WikiProject COVID-19, and the reason why I joined that project is to gain trust of people when I contributed to COVID-19 articles and as well as my fight against an IP editor which turned out to be the LTA named Bedriczwaleta (and has been active much more longer than I thought, since February of last year (!!!!)). I have the same thought process (and combined with my plans of editing old season articles, which is not done yet) when I first joined this WikiProject, but joining the WikiProject Tropical cyclones turned out to be something different. It led me to know what are the purposes of WikiProjects are and in turn led me to join many other WikiProjects since. As such, what made me change my views on WikiProjects during my time as a WikiProject Tropical Cyclones? First of all, I have seen that WikiProject Tropical cyclones members always actively work together to advance project goals, actively participating in discussions and give much-needed advice on new WikiProject Tropical cyclones members (including me). Second, WPTC really cares about our articles (and the assessments) as part of their project goals. 2018 FT project and Meteorological history of Hurricane Dorian (Four Award!) is a prime example of this. Third, we are actively welcoming the new members of this WikiProject and giving these members opportunity to succeed with us by i.e. giving out WikiLove (barnstars). Fourth, we, like WP COVID-19, actively fight against vandals and other LTAs e.g. Sidow........., UnderArmorKid, and Iphonehurricane95. These kinds of activity led me to change my belief on what WikiProjects truly are. You could see this kind of activity on other good WikiProjects like WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors, which I just joined recently on 26 October 2020 as of this newsletter and WikiProject Articles of Creation, which I have interest on joining but I might not be able to. Now, why WikiProject Tropical cyclones brought me out of trouble (and Chicdat, for that matter)? WikiProject Tropical cyclones is generally a content-creating WikiProject. We really care about improving tropical cyclone coverage on Wikipedia. Members of this WikiProject generally encouraged to communicate and discuss (in Wikipedia, in Discord, or in IRC channel), and this is what helped me and Chicdat out from trouble since our discussions from what I have seen is not always administrative. Before I joined WikiProject Tropical cyclones (and when I was still new to WikiProject Tropical cyclones), I have been putting myself on trouble numerous times. I was an ANI regular, and as an ANI regular I detailed about my struggle to deal with the LTA Bedriczwaleta and I'm was also putting up IBAN proposals of User:Jadebenn and User:Moamem as well as User:U1Quattro and User:1292simon. While I have managed to get my proposal succeeded and finally got Bedriczwaleta back on track for a while (what I thought), in August 20 (as I was about to finalize my decision to enter my college I'm currently in right now) I got myself into serious trouble against IP range 185.66.252.0/23 (which is apparently good at programming - I'm not). I tried to get them blocked for PA (calling me a thief who has a black soul), but this is where when I realized that I had to attribute things I copied within Wikipedia and I had to apologize to the user. Since then, I did my best to attribute everything I had copied articles from ( Example) and I also realized that ANI is not for me (as I do not want to get into troubles by just being there), which led me to quitting ANI until November of this year when I decided to involve myself on Miggy72 dispute (now banned for sockpuppetry - Miggy72 could have been invited to WPTC if he stopped on insisting to create non-notable topics). After that incident with the IP range 185.66.252.0/23, I have stated that I do not want to get myself into trouble as a presence in ANI. As such, I decided to focus on what I want to do, which is to continue my project of splitting season articles of the yesteryear and began to increasingly involve myself within the project - to look for help and giving the best help that I can do for this WikiProject. The activity from that September led me to become Member of the Month in the previous edition of this newsletter. It was a comeback that I needed, and I want to thank WikiProject Tropical cyclones (especially Hurricanehink) for getting me on this situation. Without their help, I'm not sure if I could be here on this day. Now, for the final question – why this WikiProject helped me (and Chicdat) regain trust of many people in Wikipedia? As I stated before, this WikiProject encourages discussion within other members of this WikiProject, which in turn encourages close involvement in all sides of this WikiProject. Because of this, some people are actually helping us learning policies in Wikipedia as the time goes on, rather than falling in into blocks. As such, with time, I have seen that some admins are open for Chicdat to become a rollbacker, while I got hold on several automated gadgets that was more useful. It appears that these tools are the reason why these people are one of the more trusted people in Wikipedia, which in turn helped me a lot at gaining trust. Someday in the future, I'm looking to become an admin by myself. But that's for the another day. For now, what I'm currently doing now is to work at my craft to eventually prepare for the day when I will seek for adminship in the years ahead. In conclusion, you can see that this WikiProject helped me to regain my standing, alongside Chicdat, Nioni1234, Cristianpogi678, HurricaneTracker495 - and of course - CyclonicallyDeranged! If not for this WikiProject, I don't think they are will be here. Chicdat could have been CIR-blocked like Prahlad balaji and PythonSwarm, Nioni1234 and Cristianpogi678 ending up like Binbin0111 and Miggy72, HurricaneTracker495 would have a trouble establishing himself (or probably will never establish theirselves and stay as an IP) and CyclonicallyDeranged fully driven out from Wikipedia. By the way, to me, both Binbin0111 and Miggy72 are young, but unfortunately they took on the wrong path (Binbin0111 was one of the earliest Force Thirteen insinuators - Binbin0111 is probably the impetus of Force Thirteen policy in this project (as it was made back in 2017), while Miggy72... we know what happened). I feel bad for them, especially Binbin0111. Had Binbin0111 is willing to learn and took steps forward to become productive young editor like Yellow Evan and two other resilient young editors I have mentioned did, Binbin0111 could have been one of the most valuable editors in this project, especially in matters related to Western Pacific basin, and in extension, Vietnam. That's it. That's what I have to say. College is increasingly getting into my feelings right now, but I will do my best as I can coming into December. Sorry if I have a bad English. Thanks for reading this opinion piece! Greetings from Indonesia, |
The Hurricane Herald:
Wikipedia's 20th Anniversary and
New Year's Special Edition!
The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the mailing list. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from December 1, 2020–January 15, 2021. This edition's editors and authors are MarioJump83, Hurricanehink, Destroyeraa, Chicdat, Typhoon2013, CycloneFootball71, Hurricane Noah, LightandDark2000, Cyclone Toby (editor's pick for member of the month), Skarmory, Shift674, and HurricaneCovid. Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions can be viewed here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include:
Typhoon Ike was also promoted from GA to A-class article. Member of the month (Editor's Pick) – Cyclone Toby Cyclone Toby first joined Wikipedia in July 2020 as I like hurricanes. Since then, they have become one of the most active editors, taking the initiative of fulfilling article requests, as well as helping us work on finishing many drafts we have. These articles include Hurricanes in Hispaniola, Hurricanes in Nicaragua, and Hurricanes in Honduras, as well as helping out getting Effects of Hurricane Dorian in the Carolinas (a long-standing draft that took many efforts to get it published to mainspace) nominated for GA, as of this writing. There are more articles Cyclone Toby is currently working on other than the ones previously listed. Also, Cyclone Toby is one of the kinder members of WPTC, actively welcoming many new editors that edited articles under WikiProject Tropical cyclones banner, as well as inviting some of these editors to the project, in which their influence ended up bringing more editors to WPTC without any invitation. We thank Cyclone Toby for work they have done in the past year, which was a horrible year for many of us, but Toby is one of many bright spots that helped us get through that year. As we enter the new year, we encourage Cyclone Toby to keep up their work and eventually complete these drafts, which will ultimately lead to the clearing of the backlog of drafts within the project.
From December 1, 2020 to January 15, 2021, there were no articles promoted to Featured Article status.
There is currently one featured article candidate:
For the next steps of the 2018 Global FT project, we're likely to finish the 2018 Pacific hurricane season FT by the end of the year. Hurricane Bud (2018) is likely to become a Featured Article (FA) around the first anniversary of the 2018 Global FT task force, which will be in June 2021, while Hurricane Olivia (2018) is the most likely FAC next in line. Sooner or later (which might happen before Bud or Olivia is FA), Timeline of the 2018 Pacific hurricane season will be completed, and subsequently nominated for Good Article (GA) status. After that, 2018 Pacific hurricane season might be nominated for Featured Topic (FT) before the timeline or the article is nominated for FA, based on the likely order of completion provided by Hurricane Noah on December 22, 2020 with some changes due to priorities after that time. We also began to focus more attention on the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season FT, as evidenced by Hurricane Beryl and Hurricane Chris (2018) becoming GAs by the time of this issue of The Hurricane Herald, as well as the merger of Meteorological history of Hurricane Michael into Hurricane Michael (despite the merge moratorium which was enacted in November 23, 2020 - this was made possible by getting the consensus for an exception to the merge moratorium), which boosted the prospects of Hurricane Michael becoming a GA by the time of the next issue or the following one. Our next step in the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season FT, as it is currently planned right now, is to have Hurricane Leslie (2018) promoted to a GA. In the Western Pacific, the creation of Effects of Typhoon Mangkhut in the Philippines is still being planned out, while Cimaron, Trami, Kong-rey, and Son-Tinh are in line to be nominated for GA later on - and Jebi may well become a FA by the next issue. In the North Indian Ocean, Cyclone Titli was recently created and likely to be expanded later on. In the Southern Hemisphere, Cyclone Owen is currently being worked on to become a GA someday, while Berguitta, Josie, Keni, and Liua are still under construction. For the Mediterranean, Cyclone Zorbas will be expanded upon and nominated for GA, some time after this issue.
If you are interested in writing new articles, promoting articles to GA, or helping with the FAC review process for the Global 2018 FT project, please reach out to Hurricane Noah or any other member of the 2018 FT task force. WikiProject To-Do
Current assessment table Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See
here for the latest, most up to date statistics.
Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for December through January 15, 2021 Storm of the month for December –
Cyclone Yasa Afterward, Yasa underwent an eyewall replacement cycle as it neared Fiji, causing the storm to weaken. Early on December 17, Yasa made landfall on Bua Province on Vanua Levu, as a powerful Category 4-equivalent tropical cyclone on the SSHWS (Category 5 severe tropical cyclone on the Australian scale). Following landfall, Yasa quickly weakened, dropping back to tropical storm-equivalent status within two days. Afterward, Yasa moved in a southward direction while continuing its weakening trend, falling below tropical cyclone status on December 19, and dissipating on December 24. Yasa killed 4 people in Fiji and left another person missing. As of this writing, the damage estimates for Yasa are still being calculated, but Yasa had caused extensive damage on Vanua Levu, likely becoming the most destructive tropical cyclone to strike Fiji since Winston in 2016.
Storm of the Year 2020 – Hurricane Eta Eta was a powerful and long-lived hurricane that devastated Central America in November 2020. The twenty-ninth tropical depression, record-tying twenty-eighth named storm, twelfth hurricane, and fifth major hurricane of the extremely active 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, Eta originated from a vigorous tropical wave in the eastern Caribbean Sea on October 28. On October 30, the system organized into Tropical Depression Twenty-Nine, before becoming a tropical storm on the next day, at which time it was given the name Eta by the National Hurricane Center (NHC). On November 2, Eta became undergoing rapid intensification over the western Caribbean, as it progressed westward, with the cyclone ultimately becoming a Category 4 hurricane on November 3. Later that day, Eta reached its peak intensity, with 1-minute sustained winds of 150 mph (240 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 922 mbar ( hPa; 27.23 inHg), it was the third-most intense November Atlantic hurricane on record, behind the 1932 Cuba hurricane, and Hurricane Iota, which struck the same region just two weeks later. However, satellite data suggests that Eta may have reached Category 5 intensity at the time of its peak intensity, since reconnaissance aircraft failed to sample the hurricane's strongest winds at the time of its peak intensity. Despite this, in their post-storm report, the NHC maintained Eta as a powerful Category 4 hurricane. Six hours after reaching its peak, Eta underwent an eyewall replacement cycle, causing the storm to weaken somewhat. At 21:00 UTC on November 2, Eta made landfall south of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (225 km/h) and a central pressure of 940 mbar (hPa; 27.76 inHg). Following landfall, Eta rapidly weakened to a tropical depression by 00:00 UTC on November 5. Despite the mountainous terrain, Eta's low-level circulation survived, and Eta retained tropical depression status for another day, during its two-day trek across Central America, before degenerating into a remnant low overland later on November 5. On November 6, Eta's remnant low moved north over water and regenerated into a tropical depression, before turning towards the northeast. Afterward, Eta reorganized into a tropical storm over the Caribbean on November 7, as it accelerated toward Cuba. On the next day, Eta made landfall on Cuba's Sancti Spíritus Province as a tropical storm, before quickly emerging into the Atlantic and turning westward. Over the next five days, the system moved erratically, making a third landfall on Lower Matecumbe Key in the Florida Keys, on November 9, before slowing down and making a counterclockwise loop in the southern Gulf of Mexico, just off the coast of Cuba, with the storm's intensity fluctuating along the way. Afterward, Eta turned north-northeastward and briefly regained Category 1 hurricane strength on November 11, before weakening back into a tropical storm several hours later. On November 12, Eta made a fourth landfall over Cedar Key, Florida. Eta weakened after making landfall, before eventually re-emerging into the Atlantic later that day. Afterward, Eta became extratropical on November 13, before being absorbed into another frontal system off the coast of the Eastern United States on the next day. In all, Hurricane Eta killed at least 211 people, left 120 people missing, and caused at least $7.9 billion (2020 USD) in damages, with the vast majority of the deaths and damages occurring in Central America. Just two weeks later, Central America was struck by Hurricane Iota as a high-end Category 4 hurricane, making landfall near the same location as Eta, which further exacerbated the disaster in the region. Member of the month (edition) – Jason Rees Jason first created an account on Wikipedia in August 2006, after tracking Hurricane Katrina and countless other storms in 2005. Since then, he has written four featured articles and 21 good articles. Recently, Jason has done great work expanding and cleaning up Cyclone Yasa, one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the South Pacific basin. He is also an active content creator, currently writing Cyclone Meena. Overall, Jason has done an outstanding job expanding the scope of tropical cyclone articles in the Southern Hemisphere basins, such as the South Pacific, where there is, sadly, a shortage of active users. We want to thank him for his wonderful work, and thus award him the Member of the Month award for this edition. New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue. Sorted chronologically.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions! A year in review: WPTC's accomplishments in 2020 2020 has been a hard year for many of us. Depending on where you live, the COVID-19 pandemic began as early as January. In most of the world, the pandemic ramped up in February and March, reaching its first peak in April–May. A second wave struck in June–August, which saw cases dramatically increase across the globe, while the third and largest wave began around October. However, during this pandemic, through lock-downs and online learning, as well as the the insanely active 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, our WikiProject saw a huge influx of new editors showing interest in editing tropical cyclone articles. Here, we will take a look at the stats: New WPTC members since January 1, 2020:
AC5230,
CycloneFootball71 (Previously Weatherman27),
Chicdat,
Hurricaneboy23,
Chlod,
Destroyeraa,
NOOBSKINSPAMMER,
HurricaneMichael2018,
JoeMT615,
MarioJump83,
Buttons0603,
Robloxsupersuperhappyface,
ChessEric,
Allen2,
Mazum24,
Modokai,
CodingCyclone,
Gumballs678,
Janm 7,
Cyclone Toby,
Hurricanehuron33,
Hurricane21,
TornadoLGS,
Iseriously,
Jupiter50,
ARegularWisconsinite,
CyclonicStormYutu,
ARay10,
Gex4pls,
Nioni1234,
Dannisom,
HurricaneCovid,
Skarmory,
Moline1,
HurricaneIcy,
Beraniladri19,
HurricaneEdgar,
Miguel 04012010,
Cyclonetracker,
Dam222,
Hi 022828,
Elijahandskip,
TovarishhUlyanov,
Animem 1,
Shift674,
Super Cyclonic Storm Corona,
ThePelicanThing,
FinnTheHurricaneFanatic,
8medalkid,
Vida0007,
TFESS,
Doge1941,
Tropical Storm Angela,
HurricaneKappa,
KingLucarius,
Hurricanestudier123,
2 0 D a r t h S a n d M a n 0 5,
iBlazeCat,
FuturPDUCTIONS,
SputtyTheSputnik,
AveryTheComrade,
Poxy4,
SovietCyclone,
Gummycow,
Chong Yi Lam,
German2k2k,
Wikihelp7586,
StopBoi,
Final-Fantasy-HH,
TheActiniumSpoon,
Ididntknowausername, New GAs since January 1, 2020: Hurricane Erin (1995), Typhoon Halola, 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Kirk (2018), Effects of Hurricane Wilma in Mexico, Hurricane Audrey, 2018 Atlantic hurricane season, 1916 Pensacola hurricane, Paleotempestology, 1934 Atlantic hurricane season, 1916 Virgin Islands hurricane, Cyclone Indlala, Typhoon Cecil (1985), Meteorological history of Hurricane Florence, 1929 Bahamas hurricane, 1938 Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Olga (2019), 1923 Atlantic hurricane season, 1893 San Roque hurricane, 2006–07 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, Typhoon Zeke, Typhoon Amy (1991), Typhoon Yunya (1991), Effects of Hurricane Dorian in the Caribbean, Typhoon Sarika, Typhoon Warren, Typhoon Holly (1984), Typhoon Eli (1992), Typhoon Alex (1987), Typhoon Irving (1982), Tropical Storm Bolaven (2018), Tropical Storm Sanba (2018), Tropical Storm Nanmadol (2017), 2018 Pacific hurricane season, Hurricane Dolores (2015), Typhoon Percy (1990), Tropical Storm Ampil, Typhoon Jebi (2018), Tropical Storm Ewiniar (2018), Hurricane Barry (2019), Tropical Storm Bertha (2020), Tropical Storm Arthur (2020), Hurricane Chris (2018), Typhoon Louise–Marge, Cyclone Ava, Hurricane Beryl New FAs since January 1, 2020: Tropical Storm Ileana (2018), Cyclone Chapala, Racer's hurricane, Hurricane Humberto (2019), Tropical Storm Zelda (1991), Hurricane Lane (2018), 1916 Texas hurricane, Hurricane Willa, Meteorological history of Hurricane Dorian, Tropical Storm Vicente (2018), Hurricane Hector (2018), Hurricane Walaka Sockpuppetry in WPTC, by LightandDark2000 Due to recent incidents involving sockpuppetry within WPTC, I invited some editors to address the problem of socking inside the project. Mario Jump 83! Sockpuppetry is a serious offense committed by various users on Wikipedia. Our own WPTC is not immune to this travesty. WPTC has seen its fair share of abuse from serial vandals and LTAs throughout the years. From 2013 through 2018, IPhonehurricane95 vandalized dozens of tropical cyclone articles and created more than 200 sock accounts. For several years, mostly spanning a two-year period from 2013 to 2014, IPhonehurricane95 defaced numerous tropical cyclone articles, mostly ones that he had once contributed to, were major storms, or were storms in an active tropical cyclone season. He also attacked essentially every single active editor on WPTC at the time, and he went on to attack every single Admin and CheckUser who had ever blocked him, in addition to making making racist remarks and threats of harassment. He eventually went cross-wiki, forcing the intervention of Stewards. In July 2014, he began including graphic 9/11 images in his vandalism, which further damaged the image of the project. IPhonehurricane95's vandalism inspired several copy-cat vandals, including one who has continued to plague the project to this day. This is a problem with LTAs and serial vandals – those who aren't stopped quickly enough and early on often bring bad publicity to the project, in addition to elevating the risk of copycat inspiring knock-offs. In 2016, IPhonehurricane95's socking spree dramatically decreased, with the LTA disappearing in 2018. Sockpuppetry on WPTC has not been nearly as bad since then, but sockpuppetry persisted on WPTC afterward, even to this day. Recent LTAs that WPTC had to deal with include Fly High in the Sky and Wyatt2049, and possibly Evlekis, with the later two engaging in a campaign of vandalism claiming fake Category 5 upgrades (or Category 0 downgrades) "from God" that attracted a lot of bad publicity. Recently, some users dabbled with socking, which got them into trouble. With the recent breaches of trust on WPTC and the confirmation of socking by CUs in several of the newer members, some members of WPTC have called for WPTC members to be vetted by CUs. In the past year alone, a few editors who had recently joined the project came out as sockmasters who went on to become LTAs, further adding to the pressure on WPTC. Personally, I feel that the newer users who joined within the past 6 months with a history of disruption should be examined by a CheckUser, but long-standing CU policy is to not investigate anyone unless there are serious allegations of sockpuppetry (with evidence). This policy exists for good reason, and these requests for blanket CUs may very well be turned down, if proposed. Sockpuppetry is not only bad for the reputation and integrity of the project. It is also harmful to the well-being of editors on the site, especially when they become the targets of attacks. In addition, sockpuppetry breaks the trust of the community when the said offender is a trusted and valued member of the community, no matter the level and duration of the offense. Those editors have to work hard to regain the trust of the community, and in some cases, trust may never be restored. Perhaps equally as bad, sockpuppetry leads to false accusations of the practice and claims of intentional bad faith against both reformed ex-sockpuppeteers and non-socking editors alike. This further damages the reputation of the site, while unnecessarily inflaming tensions between editors on the project and damaging the cohesion between the community. These aspersions also hurt well-meaning editors on the site, and can have the unwanted consequences of embittering them or prompting them to go into retirement. While there are users on WPTC who are dedicated to rooting out and combatting vandals and sockpuppeteers on the site (including some who are a part of the Counter-Vandalism Unit), this is a responsibility that the entire project needs to bear as a whole, since socking is an issue that affects the entire project in one way or another. Editors should be willing and able to investigate potential cases of socking and other types of abusive behavior, while maintaining good faith at the same time. Sockpuppetry is serious issue and an ongoing challenge to the project. Equally as bad are unfounded allegations of the abuse against editors with a long-standing history of being a net-positive. However, together, as a community, we can combat this menace to safeguard the integrity and accuracy of WPTC articles, and make Wikipedia a healthy, productive environment. ~ LightandDark2000 🌀 The Renewal and Growth of WPTC, by LightandDark2000 WPTC had its humble beginnings in the early days of Wikipedia. The WikiProject was founded by Jdorje on October 5, 2005, during the heart of the record-breaking and devastating 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. The founding of WPTC provided a place for editors who had an interest in tropical cyclones to collaborate. Over the next few years, dozens of users flocked to WPTC, growing the ranks to over 60 active members by 2011. This was the first generation of WPTC editors, many of whom had been active on Wikipedia within a few years of its founding in 2001. The first WPTC editors worked hard on improving the quality and quantity of tropical cyclone articles, attaining 100 Good Articles (GAs) and several Featured Articles (FAs) by January 2007. The number of existing TC articles grew each month, with the project boasting 1,000 articles by January 2008. However, as the years passed by, long-time members of the WPTC gradually began dropping out. Reasons included entering college, a busy work schedule, loss of interest in the subject, and retirement from Wikipedia, among other reasons. By January 2011, more than 120 members had either become inactive or had left Wikipedia entirely. By the end of the year, WPTC membership had hemorrhaged to the point where roughly 19 users remained in the WikiProject. As of this writing, the first 13 members on the WPTC roster can be considered the remaining "core" of this first generation that has stayed with the project throughout the years. But the initial WPTC Golden Age was over. The flow of new recruits fell off sharply, and overall interest declined. WPTC would remain at this reduced level of membership and activity for years to come. More users continued to join the WikiProject over the next several years, albeit on a significantly reduced scale. Even then, the vast majority of the work done on tropical cyclone articles were largely carried out by a "core" of roughly a dozen experienced editors who stayed on with the WikiProject throughout the year, even as tropical cyclone activity shifted between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. However, this reduction in the numbers of active users meant that many more articles ended up being neglected, or suffered from reduced quality. The flow of new GAs and FAs slowed down, and new FACs almost ground to a halt. Some long-time editors, such as Hurricanehink, continued to hammer out TC articles, while recruiting and mentoring new members. The second generation of WPTC editors began showing up in 2013 through 2016, including Nova Crystallis, Typhoon2013, Master of Time, KN2731, and me. (I had edited on Wikipedia for several years before then, but I wasn't officially a part of WPTC prior to 2014.) While new editors continued to join each year, others kept on leaving, and the size of the roster remained around the same size. On a Featured Article review, one of the reviewers even remarked that WPTC was no longer as lively as it once was, with much of the activity having died down. Working on WPTC grew depressing at times, with some of the active editors moving on to other topics when their basins of interest went inactive (usually when the northern hemisphere seasons came to an end). Articles suffered from quality control and content issues in numerous places, especially articles on storms outside of the North Atlantic and East/Central Pacific hurricane basins, where most of the activity from experienced editors was historically concentrated. Articles for storms in the Southern Hemisphere were the hardest-hit, with only a few editors, such as Jason Rees, continuing to work hard on them year-round. As usual, the vast majority of work fell on a tight-knit group of roughly two dozen editors, most of whom were senior editors who had been present since the early days of WPTC. At times, I wondered whether I would ever see the day in which we would have enough active editors on our roster to bring WPTC back to its former glory. From 2016 to 2018, more users joined WPTC, including ChocolateTrain, Hurricane Noah, and MarioProtIV, some of whom would later play a key role in revitalizing tropical cyclone articles or WPTC on some level. In 2018, Hurricane Noah helped restructure some of the internal dynamics of WPTC, including the creation of specific task forces for certain topics and also designing a new award system, in order to help motivate WPTC members and also to help coordinate the work between other editors more effectively. That same year, he kicked off a massive campaign to get more articles to GA and FA status, By late 2020, more than two dozen articles had been brought up to GA or FA status, and WPTC saw its first potential Featured Topic Candidate in more than 6 years (the 2018 Pacific hurricane season). After 2019, the number of new members gradually increased, and activity picked up across the WikiProject. A third batch of new editors showed up between 2018 and 2019, tripling the WPTC roster to 60+ active members. These editors included FleurDeOdile, CycloneYoris, EBGamingWiki, Sandy14156, SaiTheCyclone, DavidTheMeteorologist, JavaHurricane, and others. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Despite the ensuing lockdowns and other fallouts from the pandemic, WPTC saw an explosion of new editors that same year. This 4th generation of editors was, by far, probably the largest influx of new membership that WPTC had ever seen. By the end of the year, the active membership roster had exploded from 69 to 124 active members. Our newer members from 2020 include AC5230, CycloneFootball71, Chicdat, Hurricaneboy23, Chlod, Destroyeraa, MarioJump83, ChessEric, Modokai, CodingCyclone, Cyclone Toby, TornadoLGS, HurricaneCovid, Skarmory, and many, many others. The wait was finally over. New life had been breathed back into WPTC. It was almost as if the good old days of the WikiProject were starting to return. While we've had our ups and downs this year, the influx of new editors infused WPTC with much-needed new blood and also helped relieve the senior editors of some of the burdens they've had to bear for years. Our hope is that the vast majority of these new editors will stay with us going forward, even as tropical cyclone activity cycles on and off across the world. Even after the pandemic-related lockdowns end. In closing, I want to thank my fellow WPTC editors for my experience. When I first started as an IP editor on Wikipedia more than a decade ago, I never imagined that WikiProjects existed, not to mention one specifically tailored for tropical cyclones. I had a rough start here, with a bitey reception from most of the others who communicated with me, while also struggling to learn some of Wikipedia's fundamental policies (particularly citations). However, I eventually eased into the place and the others warmed to me, and my proficiency in editing improved as I spent more time on Wikipedia. The truth is, whenever I came under pressure in other areas of Wikipedia, whether it is from hounding, witch hunts, attacks, or other hostile behavior, I've always retreated back to WPTC. Why? Because I've always felt much more welcome here. And safe. In some ways, WPTC has become my home on Wikipedia. I've gotten so much more out of here than I had expected to as well. My time on Wikipedia helped sharpen my writing (and typing) skills, which was a rather nice bonus. I've also made a number of new friends here (some of whom I've grown rather close with), all of whom I enjoy working with. Thank you, all of you, for everything. Thank you for showing me what the Wikipedia experience should be like, and thank you for being willing to befriend me. I look forward to continue working with you all and growing with you in the years to come. May you all have a wonderful 2021! ~ LightandDark2000 🌀 My stress, by MarioJump83 Hello, this is my first opinion piece on Hurricane Herald as MarioJump83. In this opinion piece, I want to explain why I'm not as active as I'm hoping for in recent weeks. I do not plan to ever make this opinion piece at all, but I had to speak out about my issue with my activity in order to balance this edition of Hurricane Herald as well as to prevent attempts at adding my work-in-progress opinion piece to this issue because I'm planning to package that opinion piece with a long-finished but unfortunately delayed opinion piece. I want to apologize for delaying my work-in-progress opinion piece numerous times, given there are numerous issues about it, one of which (stress) will be addressed in this opinion piece. Since last December, I have repeatedly have been on semi-wikibreaks. Wikipedia, as I know it, is a serious business. I was no longer the "nice guy" when I got my MoTM. Stress has been building up as I faced college exams as well as my father's stroke which happened on December 17, 2020. I attempted to break this semi-wikibreak once as I requested to change my name from SMB99thx into MarioJump83 for a breath of a fresh air (some days before that I requested deletion of my userpage for the same reason), and did some AfC reviewing spree in January 2 and 3. But as it turns out, it was quite a failure as three AfC submissions I accepted ended up being in jeopardy, with me trying to save the last one standing. I think these experiences ruined my chance to become a permanent new page reviewer, pushed me back into my semi-wikibreak once more and I had to enroll myself into New Page Patrol School in hopes of getting back into what I wanted. As such, I decided to commit into content creation as I was granted page mover rights (temporary) on January 4. As of now, I'm trying my best to come out on this second semi-wikibreak, bringing myself out of trouble that I didn't intend to participate in and planning to become autopatrolled some day as the college exams are winding over. Wish me and my family for the best in the coming weeks, anyone! I'm hoping that it will happen after the release of this issue, if not later. By the way - even when I'm still stressed - I am going to wish everybody Happy New Year and Happy 20th Wikipedia anniversary! (Don't forget that we also reached edit number 1,000,000,000!) |
The Hurricane Herald
The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the member list. New members will automatically receive this newsletter. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from January 15–February 28, 2021. This edition's editors and authors are MarioJump83, Destroyeraa, HurricaneCovid, CycloneFootball71, HurricaneEdgar, Skarmory, Typhoon2013 (editor's pick for member of the month), and our member of the month, LightandDark2000! Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions, including past MoTMs and SoTMs, can be viewed here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments
New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include:
I, MarioJump83, the interim coordinator of 2018 Global FT's WPAC squad, feels bad with what is going on as I felt we are taking a step back with the ongoing real-life difficulties regarding important members of our task force. KN2731 had to take a wikibreak because of the compulsory service in Singapore and will likely be gone for two years; Destroyeraa's activities were highly inhibited by multiple illnesses, school exams, "bullying" issues, and series of winter storms this month; Hurricane Noah almost took a two-month-long wikibreak because due to college studies, which Noah is committed to (he also left the WPTC Discord for a couple of months, due to toxicity). I don't really like to take a lot of responsibilities within the 2018 Global FT task force, as I had joined with the intent of helping GA's that involves this year, i.e. like what I did in Cyclone Ava and Cyclone Owen as of now, but with so many of us were forced out of commission due to these problems I mentioned, I and LightandDark2000 had to take much of the responsibility within the task force. Because of this reason, I strongly recommend you, readers of Hurricane Herald, to join this task force to help take pressure off from us. Note that this is not a formal invite, as Wikipedia is free and anyone can edit, but this is what we have to deal with in this current situation, especially because of our real-life problems and commitments. Let's hope that we, including you, can make this through with what we can do!
If you are interested in writing new articles, promoting articles to GA, or helping with the FAC review process for the Global 2018 FT project, please reach out to LightandDark2000 or any other member of the 2018 FT task force. WikiProject To-Do
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for the rest of January and February SoTM for January –
Cyclone Eloise Eloise caused numerous disasters throughout numerous countries, specifically, in Madagascar, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, and Mozambique. Mozambique was the hardest-hit. In Madagascar, Eloise destroyed 190 homes and caused the death of one person. In South Africa, Eloise caused the deaths of 10 people, four of which were children, in addition to being responsible for making another 7 people go missing. In Zimbabwe, Eloise caused damage and destruction to nearly a thousand homes, some of which were badly affected by Idai two years ago. Three people were also swept away by flooding from Eloise and were presumed to be dead. In Eswatini, over 1,500 people were affected by the storm, two of whom were killed. Eloise also damaged the water system and flooded the gravel roads and low-lying bridges. In Mozambique, the residents compared the cyclone's impacts to Cyclone Idai, which had catastrophically devastated the country two years earlier. This storm caused psychological trauma and mental health crises among the residents of the country. Eloise caused nine deaths in Mozambique, but massive amounts of farmland were flooded, and the storm also damaged over 30,000 houses, the majority of which were destroyed by the storm. 579 classrooms and 86 health centers had to be repaired after the storm. SoTM for February –
Cyclone Guambe Guambe caused widespread flooding in Mozambique, which displaced over 27,000 people and worsened the ongoing crisis in the region. Prisoners had to be transferred away from the cyclone because of potential flooding. There were no deaths recorded and damages were unknown, however the worst part of Guambe wasn't there yet. South Africa were also flooded by Guambe, which might have been caused by the secondary low-level circulation center (LLCC) of Guambe. This secondary LLCC had caused Guambe to slow down, which probably had devastating effects on Bazaruto Archipelago National Park's marine life, as 186 Spinner dolphins were probably killed by the storm. After Guambe re-emerged into the Mozambique Channel, no additional damage to human property was reported, thus marking the end of Guambe's impacts on land.
Member of the month (edition) – LightandDark2000 LightandDark2000 joined Wikipedia as an IP editor on May 2, 2009. Although a couple of users encouraged him to make an account early on, he decided to continue editing articles from his IPs for the next few years. He registered his user account in May 2012 and spent another year on Wikipedia as an IP editor, before fully transitioning over to his account in the summer of 2013. He received an invitation to join WPTC in March 2014, which he accepted. Ever since joining WPTC, LightandDark2000 has been a regular editor on tropical cyclone articles and one of Wikipedia's most active rollbackers, putting him on the forefront in the fight against vandals and LTAs, and actively steering the WikiProject out of stagnation. He also defended WPTC from numerous vandals, including the likes of the LTAs IPhonehurricane95 and Lightning Sabre. In late 2014–early 2017, LightandDark2000 largely moved out of WPTC into MILHIST (as well as taking a 3-month WikiBreak in the fall of 2016—due to college work and stress from on-wiki hounding), before returning to WPTC in September 2017, following the devastating landfall of Hurricane Harvey in Texas. From there, LightandDark2000 regularly contributed to tropical cyclone articles, as well as articles on other storms and natural disasters, before taking a series of WikiBreaks in late 2019 through mid-2020, due to college work and real-life activities. However, LightandDark2000 returned in July 2020, just as the extremely-active North Atlantic hurricane season got underway. By the time the last issue of The Hurricane Herald was released, LightandDark2000 had made a full return and was ramping up activity, even as WPTC was beset by a series of problems within its membership, ranging from blocks to stress-induced WikiBreaks. During this time of crisis, LightandDark2000 stepped up very quickly - first, he helped out a number of users who were struggling with personal issues on the WikiProject. Then, he joined 2018 Global FT (currently the Interim Coordinator, with Hurricane Noah and KN2731 stepping aside due to real-life commitments). From there, he conducted his first GA review, which was for Hurricane Beryl. After that, he took on a major role in the writing of the previous issue of The Hurricane Herald, which as of this writing is the biggest issue of Hurricane Herald ever published, at an excess of 50,000 bytes, as well as being the most visually-balanced Hurricane Herald issue since the first issues of Hurricane Herald (if it were to be viewed using a 1920×1080 desktop using Legacy Vector). For these reasons and his contributions to the WPTC in the past, we will finally thank LightandDark2000 for all of his contributions by rewarding him with the Member of the Month for this edition. It's quite sad that he didn't get this award since the restart of Hurricane Herald in late 2018 to this day, but now, he has the opportunity to win the award for the first time. We are hoping to see more from LightandDark2000 in the future. For example, he joined the 2021 Cyclone Cup (and also volunteered to take on the role of a judge, if necessary), a new competition for WPTC members based on the WikiCup! New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue. Sorted chronologically.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions!
From January 15 to February 28 no featured article were promoted. From the Main Page: Documents WikiProject related materials that have appeared on the main page from January 15–February 28, 2021 in chronological order. There are currently no featured article candidates. Current assessment table Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See
here for the latest, most up to date statistics.
Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
Special thanks to David Roth, Keith Edkins, Hylian Auree and HurricaneSpin In this section, we want to thank these first-generation WPTC members for being able to stay in here for years before 2020. They (David, Keith, Hylian and Spin) are one of greatest content creators in WPTC history, helping to build and shape WPTC for what it is now today. Without them, we don't know if WPTC would be like today. David Roth's expertise, Keith Edkins' maintenance activities, Hylian's and Spin's content creation skill helped a lot in the early days of WPTC and we hope some of us can replicate what they can do in today's WPTC. Member of the month (Editor's Pick) – Typhoon2013 Typhoon2013 first edited Wikipedia in August 2013, and ever since joining Wikipedia, Typhoon2013 has been one of the most prolific editors in Western Pacific basin. Since last November, Typhoon2013 has been working very hard on getting tropical cyclone intensity lists of Western Pacific basin done, lending a hand in creation of named storms lists of C, P, R, and S (alongside finishing List of named storms (T) which I was unable to complete because of college), as well as finishing storm lists of Pacific typhoon seasons from 1980 to 1964. For the efforts Typhoon2013 has done leading to the publishing of this newsletter, I, MarioJump83, as one of many editors of Hurricane Herald, will be picking Typhoon2013 as the Member of the Month (Editor's Pick) and thank him for his contributions to build a bedrock foundation for the rapidly-growing Western Pacific coverage of the Wikipedia. We wish Typhoon2013 best of luck at college! My experience here on Wikipedia - by Destroyeraa Was planned to be published in 44th edition of Hurricane Herald, however due to some issue ( and per Destroyeraa's request), I have delayed this opinion piece further into this edition. At this point, I do not want to see this opinion piece getting delayed further into May 2021 as I really, really want this OP, alongside my OP below to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Mario Jump 83! I created my Wikipedia account on January 18, 2020. I seems so long ago. My first edit was creating my user page, and my first mainspace edit was on Hammonton, New Jersey. My first autoconformed edit was on my userpage. By then, I was editing about myself and roads. My first tropical cyclone edit was on January 30, on Tropical Storm Nestor, which got reverted. I also edited about the coronavirus epidemic before it became a worldwide pandemic. I edited List of United States tornadoes in April 2020, but got bitten on the talk page, though my love for tornadoes kept me editing pages. I also began editing numerous cyclone pages, and joined WPTC on May 19. It was sad that no one noticed that I joined, and no one welcomed me on my talk page for five months already. I submitted my first article, Tropical Storm Bertha (2020), which was accepted. I was still rather new, and mistook Chicdat as an admin. It was June already. Still, no one welcomed me. Finally, on June 5, Hurricanehink took notice of my edits and welcome me! Around the same time, I downloaded Twinkle. I found the CSD function very cool, and I admittedly didn't read WP:CSD and misused it. One month later, I met my first real vandal, which turned out to be a Force Thirteen kid who was messing around changing everything to Force Thirteen without leaving a source or an edit summary, which most people will take as vandalism. It turned out to be pretty rough, and did not end well for both of us. I was still learning at that stage, as shown here. After that, my experience here got much better. Perhaps it was the "learning-the-ropes" phase that is the hardest for all Wikipedians. I created and wrote some good articles, with my first being Hurricane Dolores, promoted on September 24. I also developed a good relationship with many of my fellow Wikipedians, including the editors/writers of this newsletter and many other newer and older users. Then came the sock block. I'll not get into much detail about that, though I will be forever indebted to the countless users who vouched for me and who welcomed me back to the community with open arms. Thank you. I am glad to be here today.~ Destroyeraa 🌀 🇺🇸 My experiences of tropical cyclones and tropical cyclone editing before joining WPTC - by MarioJump83 I planned this OP way back to September 2020, but because of issues with length and college (also even stress - detailed in my previous opinion piece My stress), I decided to delay this opinion piece until now. I also intend to publish this opinion piece alongside Destroyeraa's OP above, thus pushing back the date where I can publish this opinion piece further. Thus I fully apologize for delaying this opinion piece for way too long. I was unable to spend my time on building this opinion piece because of these issues and thus getting this opinion piece complete in time. By the way, this will be the final opinion piece I will write for Hurricane Herald - I'm done with it after two opinion pieces as SMB99thx and two opinion pieces as MarioJump83. It was so much fun creating opinion pieces, but I don't want to have opinion pieces for four straight issues already since the 43rd edition! I'm still editing Hurricane Herald in the future, but not writing opinion pieces any further - ...unless you're inviting me to write an opinion piece in my user talk page, which I'll do my best to comply. Hello, WikiProject Tropical cyclones! I want to tell you about the reasons why I liked and loved tracking tropical cyclones and my experience regarding editing tropical cyclones before I joined this WikiProject. First of all, I have been watching tropical cyclones but on-and-off since 2012. That year, Hurricane Sandy as I remembered it got significant coverage on my country, Indonesia (Badai Sandy). That hurricane was the first tropical cyclone that I had ever known in my life (it's possible that Hurricane Katrina had significant coverage in my country, but I didn't remember anything at all about it), and without it I would never known about tropical cyclones by myself. When that hurricane was about to be finished, I visited the article about 2012 Atlantic hurricane season on Wikipedia, and it was the first article about tropical cyclones that I have ever read on Wikipedia. From that day, my interest on tropical cyclones grew but it was limited to the Atlantic hurricanes only. When 2013 started, if I'm thinking about tropical cyclones I frequently visited 2013 Atlantic hurricane season, and in particular the Seasonal summary section, which drew my eyes into when I didn't edit tropical cyclone articles yet. In November 2013, however, as I'm becoming an uncle of one (now three), Typhoon Haiyan showed up. That typhoon which devastated the Southeast Asian brother country of Philippines caused my interest on tropical cyclones to grow outside of Atlantic hurricanes. Now I'm finally aware of what's happening in Pacific, and it was the first time that I learned that tropical cyclones are everywhere in the world, not just Atlantic. That time, I read 2013 Pacific typhoon season as well as 2013 Pacific hurricane season (I don't remember reading these kinds of articles before that). When I read about it, I also visited 2013 Atlantic hurricane season once again and I was shocked by that it wasn't active! As such, I didn't watch tropical cyclones that much for most of 2014 and 2015. Hurricane Patricia didn't convince me enough to watch tropical cyclones again. In 2016, things changed again that led me to make my first edits on tropical cyclones in Wikipedia. Once Hurricane Matthew came and with it significant coverage on Indonesia that I have never seen since Hurricane Sandy, I finally watched tropical cyclones full-time for the first time. That hurricane was the cyclone that finally got me going for the tropical cyclones (not just the recent seasons, but the older seasons and also SHEM) and my quick-growing interest on tropical cyclones led me to find what made me uncomfortable. That led me to make my first edit on tropical cyclone-related articles in Wikipedia - which was to add Central Pacific to a navigation template about leading tropical cyclones in March 7, 2017. Later that month, I made a second edit, which was to remove a year from a link to Hurricane Omar. These additions are quite "cosmetic" (as said by ChessEric about Hurricane Michelle GA), but soon enough in the next month I found more things that made me more uncomfortable - they are legitimate vandalism. The first edit I made in that month was to revert a vandalism on Hurricane Andrew (I edited it again after that, which was to change mb to mbar). On the next day, I fixed another vandalism in 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. That isn't the end yet, as I found one more vandalism in Hurricane Dennis, and I promptly fixed them. As I'm getting more invested on tropical cyclone articles, I've eventually heard and found out why some articles didn't have (XXXX year) in them - and it is because that they are primary topics. When I see some articles like Hurricane Linda (1997), which I thought they are primary topics (I eventually realized that they are not, and I have not requested moving these articles under WPTC banner ever since), I sought the same treatment in these kinds of articles that I thought was primary topics and thus I requested moves in many of these said articles under that thought. I believed that these requests will garner support by most of the WPTC members (which I thought will think for the same), but never did I know that these requests gained overwhelming opposes, primarily from WPTC members - and they talked to me about it. Of course, I panicked and I have to withdraw some of these nominations. That didn't stop me from editing more WPTC articles, and I started to do these requested moves again soon after. This is probably the most successful things I have ever done through my pre-WPTC membership career in the WPTC realm. After withdrawing some of these nominations, I began to work on a split of 1940–49 Pacific typhoon seasons article by starting the discussion on one in May 14. Two weeks later, as I said before, I started requesting more of these nominations in a batch on May 27 - which was wildly successful (only one of them were failed, and that was Tropical Storm Bret of 1993). In a month after these nominations, and with the consensus for split, I finally worked on the split itself. 1940 Pacific typhoon season and 1949 Pacific typhoon season has been split from the article much more earlier, with Hurricanehink creating an article for the 1940 season in May 23, 2014 and Typhoon2013 split the 1949 section from the article in December 19, 2016. I continued what Hurricanehink and Typhoon2013 has been doing, with copying content from the original article into the respective season articles. First, I reverted them to the original before Hurricanehink merged them. Afterwards, I copied the respective sections from the original into respective articles and removed the respective sections in the original article. From the IDs, you can notice that I did this not in order. Afterwards, I moved the original article into 1941–44 Pacific typhoon seasons without moving it's talk page, which I want to admit was a mistake and made a major ramifications (I even started a RfD, which should not happen) in my attempts to get it back without getting it's talk page removed later in October 2020. Once moving the article, I created redirects for the recently moved article (which includes 1941 Pacific typhoon season, 1942 Pacific typhoon season, 1943 Pacific typhoon season, and 1944 Pacific typhoon season, all of which eventually turned into articles), and quickly changed redirects of the respective storms into the newly restored articles. It was a massive effort that day on June 27, 2017, and the experience that I never forgotten. After that month, I returned into requesting moves once again for the third time, riding on the recent wave of successes. I requested the moves of Hurricane Norman (1978) and Hurricane Liza. Hurricane Liza move request was successful but Norman did not. By that point, the frustration from WPTC members are showing up and by the time I requested moving Typhoon Ida (1958) into Typhoon Ida, I had to be stopped. I also moved Typhoon Pamela (1976) into Typhoon Pamela without any discussion, but you know my intentions by that point, and the move was soon reverted. I had a talk with Yellow Evan regarding these actions, and I soon relented, never requested any moves ever since. I didn't do much for the rest of the year - the most notable moves are moving disambiguation pages Tropical Storm Noru and Tropical Storm Banyan into Typhoon Noru and Typhoon Banyan, respectively. Moving on to the next year, I did not do much once again. Most of the activity that year was working on the most of Tropical Storm Son-Tinh (2018) article. Keep in mind that I plan to return working on that article as a part of 2018 Global FT efforts, and that happened because KN2731 is going to take a break for most of this year. Onto the 2019, I did something that I think planted the seeds for my future MoTM run and vast WPTC growth in 2020. Most of the activity in general involves creating links to the future articles, but I also fixed redirects for most 1930s seasons and created redirects for the rest of 1960s decade for NIO basin. I planned something greater than that, however, but because I had to use my phone and not my laptop (it was broken) I wasn't able to do so. That plan was a factor leading to me joining the WPTC in July 2020 (after I realized about the benefits of joining the WikiProjects) and I began realizing the plan as soon as I got my laptop back. What I did for the most of August 2020 and September 2020 was mostly set in stone back in the previous year, if you don't notice that. If I didn't plan it back in the day, I don't think I would ever got that MoTM (it would have been Destroyeraa most likely). That was a story. It is a long story. It took me pains to get myself established in WPTC, but now here I am. If anyone could have invited me back in the year 2018, I would have rejected it like CyclonicallyDeranged, whom I believe has been driven out of Wikipedia. But coming to this year, I realized the benefits of joining the WikiProjects and now, as said by Hurricanehink, I became a vital editor for WPTC. |
The Hurricane Herald
The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition on June 4, 2006. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the member list. New members will automatically receive this newsletter. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from March 1–April 30, 2021. This edition's editors and authors are MarioJump83, Chicdat, Super Cyclonic Storm Corona, HurricaneEdgar, Dam222, AwesomeHurricaneBoss, LightandDark2000, LowercaseGuy (one of the editor's picks for Member of the Month), and our Members of the Month, CycloneFootball71, and CodingCyclone! Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions, including past MoTMs and SoTMs, can be viewed here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments
New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include:
New A-Class articles include Cyclone Leon–Eline and Hurricane Olivia (2018). Member of the month (Editor's Pick) – Akbermamps and LowercaseGuy In this edition of Hurricane Herald, I ( MarioJump83, one of the Hurricane Herald editors) am going to pick Akbermamps and LowercaseGuy. Both of them contributed to nearly all of the new articles since the publishing of the last issue (and also they contributed to the last issue itself). All of these articles primarily covered the Western Pacific basin, but also they worked on missing Tropical cyclones in xxxx articles and Southern Hemisphere articles. They both were driving factors in some of the greatest growth the WPTC has ever seen since Issues 42, 43, and 44. Both of them are hard workers, who remain civil, and treat others with kindness, despite hardships. Akbermamps also has reverted many nonconstructive edits from many different articles, plus they have made many great edits to tropical cyclone articles, as said above. LowercaseGuy also has made many great edits, per above, plus they have kept the newsletter up to date with all of the new article creations, new GA's, and A-class articles within the project. Because of this, I can only say that I am very proud of them!
None during this period.
Since the last issue of this newsletter, I have noticed that there is an uptick of activity involving 2018 Global FT topic recently. Hurricane Noah came back from almost-retirement, then afterwards improved Hurricane Olivia (2018) into A-class, 2018 Pacific hurricane season within striking distance of it and Timeline of the 2018 Pacific hurricane season potentially became the second featured list we are going to have this year. Meanwhile, I have been focusing all of my efforts in WPTC at improving Cyclone Owen, by Chicdat, into GA status and end all drama between him and all other WPTC editors. Two MoTMs that I have personally picked, Akbermamps and LowercaseGuy, joined the fray (not joining us officially) and improved some 2018 Pacific typhoon season articles that I have created, including the creation of both two articles listed above (and as of right now, Akbermamps is building up Timeline of the 2018 Pacific typhoon season article in his sandbox). I'm very glad to see this happening and I hope this newly found activity could be kept up in the next two months. During these months, I am hoping that Noah might make efforts at improving Hurricane Bud (2018) towards FA eventually. Mario Jump 83!
If you are interested in writing new articles, promoting articles to GA, or helping with the FAC review process for the Global 2018 FT project, please reach out to LightandDark2000 or any other member of the 2018 FT task force. WikiProject To-Do
Storms of the month and other tropical activity for March and April SoTM for March – Cyclone Niran Cyclone Niran originated from a developing tropical low off the coast of Queensland on February 27. Afterward, the system slowly began to strengthen, while making a slow clockwise loop, bringing heavy flooding to parts of Queensland. On March 1, the system strengthened into a Category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian region basin scale, and was given the name Niran by the BoM. On March 3, Niran began to undergo rapid intensification as it began accelerating away from the Australian coast, towards the southeast. On March 5, Niran crossed over into the FMS's area of responsibility, in the South Pacific basin. Soon afterward, the cyclone reached its peak intensity as a Category 5 tropical cyclone on both the Australian region scale and the Saffir–Simpson scale (SSHWS), with maximum 10-minute sustained winds of 205 km/h (125 mph), maximum 1-minute sustained winds of 260 km/h (160 mph), and a central minimum pressure of 931 millibars (27.5 inHg). Several hours later, Niran underwent an eyewall replacement cycle and encountered wind shear, which caused the storm to begin weakening. The storm continued moving towards the southeast at a rapid pace, and on March 6, the storm struck the island of Grande Terre in New Caledonia, as a Category 3-equivalent tropical cyclone on the SSHWS, although the storm's eye stayed offshore. On March 6, Niran transitioned into an extratropical cyclone, and two days later, Niran was absorbed into another larger extratropical storm to the south. Niran caused at least $200 million (2021 USD) in damages, the vast majority of which came from banana crop damage in Queensland. No deaths were reported from the storm. SoTM for April – Cyclone Seroja On March 19, the BoM began monitoring a developing tropical low to the south of Timor, which they designated as 22U. On April 3, the system fully developed into a tropical low. For the next couple of days, the system made a slow counterclockwise loop over a part Indonesia and over Timor, gradually strengthening as it did so, causing torrential floods that killed at least 229 people. On April 4, the system strengthened into a Category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian region scale and was named Seroja by TCWC Jakarta. On April 5, Seroja began moving southwestward, away from Indonesia. The storm encountered wind shear during this time, but the storm maintained tropical cyclone intensity. On April 7, Seroja began closely interacting with Tropical Low 23U to the northeast, which later became Cyclone Odette, as a result of the Fujiwhara effect. The two storms began closely interacting on April 8, as the two storms drew closer to each other. The interaction initially caused both storms to weaken, though Seroja eventually restrengthen and 23U strengthened into Tropical Cyclone Odette later that day. However, soon afterward, Seroja became the stronger storm and begen to absorb Odette into its circulation. On April 10, Seroja absorbed Odette, before turning to the southeast and strengthening again. The system continued stregthening up until landfall, and the system made landfall on April 12 near Gregory, Western Australia, at peak intensity, as a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone on the Australian region scale and a Category 1-equivalent tropical cyclone on the Saffir–Simpson scale. Afterward, Seroja weakened as it moved inland, and the system transitioned into an extratropical storm, before emerging into the Great Australian Bight. Later that day, Seroja was absorbed by a larger extratropical cyclone to the south. Seroja killed at least 229 people and left another 102 missing, making it the third-deadliest tropical cyclone recorded in the Australian region basin. The storm also caused over $490.7 million (2021 USD) in damages.
Member of the month (edition) – CycloneFootball71 and CodingCyclone In this edition of Hurricane Herald, we present CycloneFootball71 and CodingCyclone as the Members of the Month. Both users joined Wikipedia and WPTC in the year 2020, and they helped us navigate into a better place during the COVID-19 pandemic and during the WPTC conflicts in 2020 and 2021. Their participation lifted and maintained our spirits during the tense situations and what's happening in the world. CycloneFootball71 is the kindest WPTC member we have ever seen, actively giving out barnstars and writing out statements that can be considered as "motivational", never targeting anyone, while also making contributions to articles, and participating in talk-page discussions, and occasionally, reverting vandalism. CodingCyclone, meanwhile, gave Wiki-project Tropical Cyclones the first featured list in years, and she helps out with wording, current cyclones, and other neglected timelines, and all around is kind, and thoughtful to everyone within the Wikipedia community. She is someone who has matured to become a great, and experienced editor here. We thank her for all of her contributions, and hope she continues to keep up the great work, and kindness. Unfortunately, 2020 was not a kind year for the two of them, particularly for CycloneFootball71, as he suffered from numerous illnesses, a few injuries, the loss of a friend (offwiki) and he retired (though he came back, thankfully) numerous times; these troubles even continued into 2021. Meanwhile, CodingCyclone stayed, but she entered a semi-WikiBreak, due to real life matters she had to attend to. However, both of them are editing at full speed now, and helped us realize what 2021 should be, full of hope and a better year than 2020 was. New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue. Sorted chronologically.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions! Thank you, JavaHurricane JavaHurricane, one of the prominent Wikipedia rollbackers since 2019, decided to quit WikiProject Tropical cyclones in April 7, 2021 after series of arguments regarding how the merger of Tropical storms Amanda and Cristobal was handled (though this was later resolved). This followed a series of events that included numerous edit wars, hostile interactions (involving both members and non-members of the Weather WikiProjects), incompetence issues, and trouble dealing with a number of serial vandals. These issues added on more and more stress to some of our members, with the botched handling of the Amanda/Cristobal merger being the last straw, which culminated in several WPTC members, especially the younger ones, to leave the project. Destroyeraa decided to fully retire from Wikipedia, but LightandDark2000 managed to get him consider rejoining WPTC after a lengthy series of off-wiki discussions, contingent upon the WikiProject improving its conduct. A MoTM of this edition, CycloneFootball71 also decided to retire, following the decision of Destroyeraa to quit WPTC, but quickly reconsidered and instead took an indefinite WikiBreak, which later became a Semi-WikiBreak. LightandDark2000 himself also considered quitting from WPTC and leaving Wikipedia entirely (since WPTC activities are his primary reason for being on Wikipedia in the first place), but he decided to stay for now (unless things continue to grow worse, in which case, a full retirement as a registered user is likely). Another MoTM, CodingCyclone, went on a semi-WikiBreak instead of quitting like some of others did. Although the worst of the turmoil seems to be over now, WPTC is still slowly recovering from the damage. However, it is clear, unfortunately, that JavaHurricane will not return to the project, due to the loss of faith and time. We hope that this will never happen again. To JavaHurricane himself: thank you. Thanks for all the edits you've made in 2020 and in 2021. You are one of the building blocks that led to the WPTC revival last year. Without you, we would have had more difficulty combating some of the LTAs we've recently dealt with. You've made plenty of quality improvements and also carried out a decent amount of anti-vandalism activities. If you ever wish to rejoin the project, you will always be welcome here. We wish you luck in your future endeavors.
From March 1 to April 30, one featured list was promoted. From the Main Page: Documents WikiProject-related materials that have appeared on the main page from March 1–April 30, 2021 in chronological order. March 11 – Typhoon Maemi
There is an article currently nominated as featured list candidate: Article of the Month: Tropical Storm Rolf Tropical Storm Rolf, also known as Tropical Storm 01M, was an unusual Mediterranean tropical storm that brought flooding to Italy, France, Spain, and Switzerland in November 2011. Rolf originated from an extratropical system near western France on November 4. For the next few days, Rolf moved eastward into the Mediterranean Sea, before making a slow clockwise loop off the coast of France. Despite the generally unfavorable conditions in the Mediterranean Sea, Rolf transitioned into a subtropical depression on November 7, before becoming a tropical storm later that day and turning northeastward. On November 8, Rolf reached its peak intensity, with 1-minute sustained winds peaking at 85 km/h (50 mph, 45 kn) and a minimum central pressure of 991 mb (29.3 inHg). During the next day, the storm turned westward and made landfall on the island of Île du Levant, in France, and soon afterward, near Hyères in southeastern France. Following its second landfall, Rolf quickly weakened, dissipating on November 10. Rolf was the first tropical cyclone ever to be officially monitored by the NOAA in the Mediterranean Sea. Rolf caused widespread flooding across southwestern Europe, especially in France and Italy, with the majority of the damage from the storm occurring in those two countries. Torrential rainfall from Rolf caused multiple rivers to overflow their banks in France and Italy, flooding multiple cities and resulting in extensive property damage. The storm forced numerous schools and businesses to close temporarily, and also caused significant damage to 300 farms in France. Floodwaters from Rolf's rainfall also cut the power to over 8,000 customers and necessitated thousands of rescues, in addition to forcing thousands of evacuations. The storm also caused the largest flood event seen in Gipuzkoa, in northern Spain since 1983. Rolf killed 12 people, and the storm was also the costliest Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone in the 2010s, with the storm causing at least $1.25 billion (2011 USD, €925 million) in damages. Current assessment table Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See
here for the latest, most up to date statistics.
Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
How to Cite Sources on Tropical Cyclone Articles, by LightandDark2000 In my years of experiences here on WPTC (and on Wikipedia, in general), I've noticed that citing sources properly is a skillset that many editors are lacking in. While a good number of the experienced editors are familiar with how to fill out citations on Wikipedia, this is something that the most of the newer editors struggle with, especially those who have never written a research paper before. Given the influx of new members in WPTC over the past year, I've decided to write a simple tutorial on how to properly complete citations in tropical cyclone articles. First of all, lets start with a standard citation template. This format will be used for the vast majority of citations on tropical cyclone articles: For our example, lets use this special "Tropical Cyclone Update" advisory for Hurricane Isaias, which was issued when the storm made landfall in North Carolina, early on August 4, 2020 (UTC time).
Once you have done all of this, your completed citation should have the following code: Which should appear as follows in the article: [1] With this tutorial, hopefully you now know how to properly cite sources within tropical cyclone articles. Properly citing sources is a crucial skill on Wikipedia. It allows you to make complete, professional references that can be accessed and reused by just about any other editor. Additionally, creating incomplete or improper citations forces other more experienced users to clean up after you, which not only wastes time, but also prevents an article from becoming a Good Article or Featured Article until these issues are completely resolved. Citing sources is an important skill and one that every experienced editor is expected to master. Citing sources takes time to learn, so don't be discouraged if you don't fully master the art at the beginning. As with everything else in life, new skills require "practice" to perfect, and as you cite more and more sources, you'll find that citing sources becomes easier and faster for you. I hope you find this guide useful in your journey on Wikipedia. May it help mold you into a superb writer, like many other experienced editors who have come before you. Best of luck, and happy editing! ~ LightandDark2000 🌀
Destroyeraa and the Project, by Chicdat, CodingCyclone, CycloneFootball71, MarioJump83, and LightandDark2000 Destroyeraa registered his account on Wikipedia in January 2020. He gained experience like all of us, and received several user rights in the process. He improved several articles to GA status, the first being Hurricane Dolores (2015). He made WikiProject Tropical cyclones a good place to be. He made some mistakes, of course, but learned from them quickly. But by 2021, real life seemed to be catching up to Destroyeraa. He went into periods of semi-wikibreaks. His editing became more sporadic. He has not edited since March 3, 2021. WikiProject Tropical cyclones has experienced plenty of turmoil since then, especially in late March and early April. Some users have been very hostile. There has been copyright problems. Drama is being created. With the exception of a few remarks by LightandDark2000 on-wiki, the project has not heard from him for a long time. I wish that he would come back, and I miss him. When Destroyeraa went, it seems that the short revival of WikiProject Tropical cyclones went with him as well. I came as the renewal of WPTC was beginning, so I knew no other state of the project. To Destroyeraa himself: Please come back. You made the WikiProject a good place to be. I miss you so much; you were like a real life friend. ~ 🐔 Chicdat Bawk to me! Destroyeraa was the person who invited me to the project. Like many others, his hard work and diligence made him a role model to me. Without him, I probably wouldn't be where I am today. He gave me advice when I was trying to improve Hurricane Fran (which I never completed, but would like to do as an honor to him) and helped me realize some of my earlier edits were a bit CIR-y and disruptive (albeit unintentionally). He was always unfailingly civil and helped other editors when they were down. He also created the Cyclone Cup which is actually really fun and something that I personally would never have thought of, and is helping to drive some people to create and improve more articles. To me, he was a symbol of the rebirth of WPTC. When he left, it seemed as though that age disappeared. I know that real life always takes precedence over Wikipedia, but hopefully he can figure out how to balance the two and come back soon. CodingCyclone! 🌀 📘 Destroyeraa has had a profound effect on the WPTC. He has been so helpful and kind throughout his time on Wikipedia, and I want to thank him for that. He has done so much for us throughout his time here, and Wikipedia has not been the same for the project since he left. He has helped me through lots, during some very difficult times, and he has been a great friend. He helped me create my first Opinion piece ever, which helped me get into editing these newsletters for the editors of this project. Despite some mistakes, he overcame these and became even better than before, and he really inspired me to improve myself in the realm of editing tropical cyclones. He did so much for this project, and me and the rest of this Wikiproject want to thank him for all that he has done. I am not sure what else to say, as Chicdat and CodingCyclone said everything that was in my mind. However, he was a great friend. Destroyeraa, you will be missed here on Wikipedia. I hope one day you may return and regain your faith in WPTC again, but for now, I only hope and wish for the absolute best for your life. Thank you again. 🌀 Cyclone Football 71🏈 | sandbox Destroyeraa brought me to speed during my initial WPTC tenure as SMB99thx, since I was not that active in my first years and also not aware of Wikipedia's changing guards, like newer users having advanced permissions so quickly, having many user scripts, very communicative on-and-off-wiki (i.e. using Discord), and so much more that I don't understand back when I first joined in WPTC. By learning from him, eventually, I did have the same advanced permissions like his up to last month, having many user-scripts, as well as using a custom theme for Wikipedia, which is not Vector, and its very cool! Without him, I may have been going into a path Chicdat is currently taking right now, as Chicdat wasn't able to stay as a page mover and a rollbacker early in his Wikipedia career, then got into several troubles which led me into adopting him. Now, I am going to give him lessons that I learned from Destroyeraa himself. Other than that, I don't have anything much to say about him, but I hope he's back again to help me once more, and bring me further growth as an editor going forward, which could potentially assist me at shepherding Chicdat into a better place. Mario Jump 83! The others above have pretty much captured what I would like to say, and since Destroyeraa and I have stayed in contact off-wiki, I'll make this brief. Destroyeraa was a one-of-a-kind. I've been here for 12 years now, and I have to say that I've rarely ever come across someone like him; even less so in real life. The work he has done in just one year on Wikipedia (as a registered user) is absolutely astounding; it took me 6 years for my editing to reach that level of professionalism. I have not seen anyone like him show up on WPTC since Hurricane Noah joined in 2017. He is really smart, and he is also one of the nicest people I've ever met. And he's a very good friend as well. Destroyeraa, I bet you were able to guess most of what I said here, but you should know that you're a real gem. Those of us here miss you, and there are others as well. And I did tell you that your absence would be felt, didn't I? Regardless of what you think, what you do here does and will affect us. I'm very happy that you've decided to come back this summer, once you get out of school. I hope to see you around the place then. Your friend, LightandDark2000 🌀 |
The Hurricane Herald:
2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics Special Edition!
The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006. If you wish to receive or discontinue your subscription to this newsletter, please visit the mailing list. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project-related events from May 1–September 3, 2021. This edition's editors and authors are LightandDark2000, MarioJump83, HurricaneParrot, CodingCyclone, CycloneFootball71, HurricaneCovid, HurricaneEdgar, Jason Rees, and Destroyeraa (the MoTM for this issue). Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions can be viewed here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments
New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include: Member of the month (Editor's Pick) – Nova Crystallis and Supportstorm In this edition of Hurricane Herald, I (MarioJump83, one of the Hurricane Herald editors) am going to award Nova Crystallis and Supportstorm with my pick. Both of them are second-generation of WPTC members who joined Wikipedia in 2011 and 2014, respectively. Their most notable work were off-wiki: Nova Crystallis created the WPTC Discord server in August 2018, an idea of Hurricane Noah's, and has since then administered the server to this day, including several server cleanups on the occasions of server disruptions. Supportstorm, meanwhile, is one of the most prolific track creator in all of WPTC, which led some WPTC members ( Janm 7 in particular) to ask him for tracks, and as of now, he's actively converting track images from JPG into PNG versions, including the creation of tropical cyclones by year tracks. However, their on-wiki work deserve appreciation as well, since Nova Crystallis has created numerous GA-class WPAC pre-1980 typhoon articles pre-1980, in addition to actively creating GAs for WikiProject U.S. Roads, while Supportstorm takes their time to add their tracks into the articles once they're done and was once assisted in the creation of 1960s North Indian Ocean cyclone season articles back in 2013.
As we entered the summer and the start of the Northern Hemisphere tropical cyclone seasons, several users wrote new articles for the FT project and brought several to GA status.
If you are interested in writing new articles, promoting articles to GA, or helping with the FAC review process for the Global 2018 FT project, please reach out to Hurricane Noah, LightandDark2000, or any other member of the 2018 FT task force. WikiProject To-Do
Current assessment table As of this issue, there are 159 featured articles and 77 featured lists. There are 3 A-class articles, and 1140 good articles. There are only 164 B-class articles, perhaps because because most articles of that quality already passed a GA review. There are 620 C-class articles, 832 start-class articles, and 171 stub-class articles, with 1063 lists, and 0 current articles. These figures mean that slightly more than half of the project is rated a GA or better. Typhoon Warren was the 1000th GA in the project. Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the four milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for May, June, July, and August SoTM for May: Cyclone Tauktae Tauktae originated from a tropical disturbance, which was first monitored by the India Meteorological Department on May 13. The disturbance drifted eastward and organized into a deep depression by May 14. The storm soon took a northward turn, continuing to gradually intensify, and the system strengthened into a cyclonic storm and was named Tauktae later that same day. Tauktae continued intensifying into May 15, reaching severe cyclonic storm status later that day. Tauktae began to parallel the coast of the Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, before rapidly intensifying into a very severe cyclonic storm, early on May 16. Early on May 17, Tauktae intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm, reaching its peak intensity soon afterward. Later that same day, Tauktae underwent an eyewall replacement cycle and weakened, before restrengthening as it neared the coast of Gujarat, making landfall soon afterward. After making landfall, Tauktae gradually weakened as it turned northeastward, moving further inland. On May 19, Tauktae weakened into a well-marked low-pressure area. Tauktae brought heavy rainfall and flash floods to areas along the coast of Kerala and on Lakshadweep. There were reports of heavy rain in the states of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra as well. Tauktae resulted in at least 169 deaths in India, and left another 81 people missing. There were also 5 deaths reported in Pakistan. The storm displaced over 200,000 people in Gujarat. The cyclone also caused widespread infrastructure and agricultural damage to the western coast of India. SoTM for June: Tropical Storm Claudette (2021) Claudette originated from a broad trough of low pressure over the Bay of Campeche on June 12, which moved erratically over the region for the next several days. Moving northward with little development due to unfavorable upper-level winds and land interaction, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) initiated advisories on it as a Potential Tropical Cyclone late on June 17, due to its imminent threat to land. The disturbance finally organized into Tropical Storm Claudette at 09:00 UTC on June 19 as it was over southeast Louisiana. Claudette weakened to a depression as it turned east-northeastward before moving through Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. Baroclinic forcing then caused Claudette to reintensify into a tropical storm over North Carolina early on June 21 before it accelerated into the Atlantic Ocean later that day. Soon afterward, it degenerated into a low-pressure trough on the same day, before being absorbed into another extratropical cyclone on the next day. Claudette produced gusty winds, flash flooding, and tornadoes across much of the Southeastern United States. Claudette overall caused minor impacts along the Gulf of Campeche’s coastline due to the system stalling in the region as an Invest and a Potential Tropical Cyclone. Impacts were most severe in Alabama and Mississippi, where heavy rains caused flash flooding. Several tornadoes in the states also caused severe damage, including an EF2 tornado that damaged a school and destroyed parts of a mobile home park in East Brewton, Alabama, injuring 20 people. At least 14 people died in Alabama due to the storm. Total economic losses across the United States exceeded $350 million. SoTM for July: Typhoon In-fa In-fa was first noted by the JTWC as an area of low pressure, located east of the Philippines on July 14. Favorable conditions helped the storm to intensify, becoming a tropical depression, two days later and a tropical storm on July 17, being assigned the name In-fa by the Japan Meteorological Agency. Located in a weak steering environment, the system struggled to organize under dry air and moderate wind shear before organizing further. It continued to move mostly westward, strengthening into a typhoon and deepening quickly. The storm struggled to organize itself significantly due to continuous dry air intrusions and its frequent motion changes. On July 21, it reached its peak intensity, with maximum 1-minute sustained winds of 175 km/h (110 mph), and 10-minute sustained winds of 150 km/h (90 mph) on the system. Nevertheless, the system reached its minimum barometric pressure of 950 hPa (28.05 inHg), three days later, after passing through the Ryukyu Islands. As it entered the East China Sea, marginal conditions started to take their toll on the system, with In-fa weakening steadily and slowly, until it made its consecutive landfalls over Putuo District of Zhoushan and Pinghu on July 25 and 26, respectively, as a tropical storm. For the next couple of days, the storm slowly moved inland while gradually weakening, before turning northward on July 29. Later that day, In-fa weakened into a remnant low over northern China. The remnants continued their northward trek for another couple of days, before dissipating near North Korea on July 31. Typhoon In-fa exacerbated and played a part in starting the 2021 Henan floods, a flooding event that killed at least 302 people and dealt upwards of 82 billion yuan ( US$12.7 billion) in damage, while leaving at least 50 people missing. The typhoon itself killed 6 people and caused at least $2 billion in damages.
Member of the month (edition) – Destroyeraa Destroyeraa joined Wikipedia as an IP editor in 2018. His edits back then were sparse, mostly involving correcting typos and grammar articles in articles that he read. In 2019, he began editing more often, and he started editing articles on weather, especially those on storms in the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season. Although he contributed to those articles, his edits appeared to go unnoticed. On January 17, 2020 (January 18, UTC time), Destroyeraa created his user account on Wikipedia. In May of that year, he joined WPTC, though no one welcomed him for a month. Around this time, he co-created his first article, Tropical Storm Bertha (2020). He also began contributing larger amounts of contents to articles, in addition to creating new ones. In July 2020, Destroyeraa created an article for Hurricane Dolores (2015), which became his first GA later that month. By this time, he had become a regular WPTC editor and a key contributor, often updating the articles for various storms, such as Hurricane Isaias. As time went on, Destroyeraa contributed more content and built up his accomplishments. In October, he got Dolores's article posted to the Did You Know? section on the Main Page, and he got more articles promoted to GA status as well. He also started engaging in anti-vandalism activities, combatting multiple vandals and even some LTAs. However, he was blocked for a week for engaging in sockpuppetry. Nevertheless, after his block, Destroyeraa resumed contributing to various articles, and he also helped out with the workings of WPTC. In January 2021, Destroyeraa created the Cyclone Cup, a fun competition based on the WikiCup for WikiProject Weather users to participate in, in order to help encourage more article creation and the improvement of article quality. However, by March 2021, his school work caught up with him, and he was forced to take a WikiBreak for the next few months. In early April, Destroyeraa made the decision to retire from Wikipedia, due to a recent spate of drama and negative behavior on WPTC; however, after some off-wiki persuasion, he was persuaded to change his mind. In June 2021, Destroyeraa officially returned to WPTC. While he was a lot more inactive, largely due to summer assignments and real-life activities, he still contributed to Wikipedia from time to time. As of the publication of this newsletter, Destroyeraa has created 24 articles and brought five articles to GA status. He has become one of the most accomplished WPTC users who joined post-2020, and he plans on continuing his work in the future. We wish him the best of luck in his future on Wikipedia and in his studies at school, and we hope to continue seeing him around here. New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue. Sorted chronologically.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions! Thank you, TropicalAnalystwx13, MarioJump83, DachshundLover82, and Cyclone Toby TropicalAnalystwx13 left Wikipedia in September 2020 without notice. He was one of the most prominent content contributors within the past decade, and he also welcomed some of the other users when they joined. Within the past few months, MarioJump83 went into semi-retirement, and both DachshundLover82 (previously known as Robloxsupersuperhappyface) and Cyclone Toby decided to fully retire from Wikipedia. These users made their decisions after suffering from a lack of interest in editing, a variety of real-life issues (including health issues for DachshundLover82), and also a lack of time. MarioJump83 was an invaluable editor who had made many edits and written multiple aritcles and GAs, and they also brought new users to WPTC, in addition to mentoring Chicdat. DachshundLover82 and Cyclone Toby were both seasoned article writers, having authored multiple articles and even promoting some articles to GA status. Each of these users were MoTM picks in recent issues of The Hurricane Herald. We wish them the best in life and hope to see them again someday.
From May 1 to September 3, a featured list, a featured article, and a featured topic were promoted: From the Main Page: Documents WikiProject related materials that have appeared on the main page from May 1–September 3, 2021 in chronological order.
There is an article currently nominated for featured article status: Article of the Month: 2018 Pacific hurricane season The 2018 Pacific hurricane season was one of the most active Pacific hurricane seasons on record, producing the highest accumulated cyclone energy value on record in the basin. The season saw 26 tropical cyclones, 23 named storms – the fourth-highest value recorded, tied with 1982, 13 hurricanes, and 10 major hurricanes, in addition to one unofficial subtropical storm. The season also featured eight landfalls, six of which occurred in Mexico. The season officially began on May 15 in the Eastern Pacific, and on June 1 in the Central Pacific; they both ended on November 30. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Pacific basin. However, tropical cyclone formation is possible at any time of the year, as illustrated when the first tropical depression formed on May 10, five days prior to the official start of the season. The accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) index for the 2018 Pacific hurricane season was around 316 units. Broadly speaking, ACE is a measure of the power of a tropical or subtropical storm multiplied by the length of time it existed. Therefore, a stronger storm with a longer duration contributes more to the seasonal total than several short-lived, weaker storms combined. 2018 had the highest total ACE of any Pacific hurricane season on record, having surpassed the 1992 Pacific hurricane season. Tropical Cyclone Anniversary: August 29, 2005 – Hurricane Katrina On Monday, August 29, 2005, at 6:10 a.m. CDT (11:10 UTC), Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Buras-Triumph, Louisiana, before making another landfall near the Louisiana–Mississippi border, a few hours later. The storm made landfall as a powerful high-end Category 3 hurricane, with maximum 1-minute sustained winds of 125 miles per hour (201 km/h) and a central pressure of 920 millibars (27 inches of mercury). The storm had weakened from its peak as a Category 5 hurricane, due to an eyewall replacement cycle. Katrina caused the levee system in New Orleans to fail, flooding the city, and causing enormous amounts of destruction. The floods also ended up killing many residents of the city. In all, Katrina killed 1,836 people and caused an estimated $125 billion (2005 USD) in damages, making the storm the costliest hurricane on record in the United States and also worldwide (tied with Hurricane Harvey, without factoring in inflation), and also making the storm one of the deadliest hurricanes to strike the United States in the 21st century. My Experience on Wikipedia, by LightandDark2000 I joined Wikipedia as an IP editor on May 1, 2009 (May 2, if you go by UTC time). Although a couple of users encouraged me to make an account early on, I decided to continue editing articles from my IPs for the next few years. I just felt that I wasn't ready for a user account yet. In 2010–11, I experienced hounding from another user on some TV show articles, which made me withdraw from those articles for a while and briefly consider quitting Wikipedia. I registered my user account in May 2012, but I spent another year on Wikipedia as an IP editor, before fully transitioning over to my account in the summer of 2013. I also created my first articles in 2012. I pretty much grew used to using my account and decided to stick with it. :) In March 2014, I received an invitation to join WPTC, which I obviously accepted. I had considered myself a member of WPTC since 2012, but I didn't really know about WikiProjects, much less how to join them (otherwise, I would've joined much earlier). Since 2010, I had regularly contributed to articles. While I didn't have a solid grasp of how to cite sources at the time, I managed to contribute a good a mount of content, in addition to cleaning up spelling and grammar errors. As time went on, my article-writing skills improved, and so did my knowledge of Wikipedia policies. I will admit: I did have difficulty at times, and my temper got me into trouble from time to time. However, these mistakes made me more determined to better myself, and avoid the same missteps in the future. I also engaged in anti-vandalism activities quite often, which brought me into conflict with IPhonehurricane95 and his copycap, Lightning Sabre, whom can be considered the two most vicious LTAs that WPTC has had to deal with. In late 2014–early 2017, I largely moved out of WPTC into MILHIST, due to my interest in the recent conflicts involving the terrorist organization ISIL in the Middle East. I contributed a lot to those articles, though I still contributed to tropical cyclone and other weather articles from time to time. I had made some friends on-wiki by this point, including Master of Time and EkoGraf. In early April 2016, a small number of users were fed up with some of my edits and decided to launch a witchhunt in order to get me topic banned (or even completely banned, for some). While the case was eventually dropped, it was very disturbing to me and made me consider permanently retiring from Wikipedia. In August 2016, the combination of college work and stress led me to take a 3-month WikiBreak. I pulled a full exit and considered never coming back. However, I enjoyed contributing to Wikipedia too much (hehe), and during my winter break, I returned and resumed editing. In 2017, my editing activity gradually ramped up, and in September 2017, I returned to WPTC, following the devastating landfall of Hurricane Harvey in Texas. During my time in MILHIST, my citation skills had greatly improved. Once again, I regularly contributed to tropical cyclone articles, as well as articles on other storms and natural disasters, which I greatly enjoyed. I also observed the peak of the hyperactive 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, including the devastating landfalls of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. However, as I had noted before in some previous Op-Eds and elsewhere, I noticed that WPTC had stagnated, and had serious manpower issues. As we remained a rather small WikiProject for a while, it grew a little depressing at times. In December 2017, a combination of poor habits and overworking myself took its toll on my health and I suffered a severe burnout, and I was forced to leave Wikipedia until late January 2018 (a mistake I intend never to repeat). In 2017 through 2019, WPTC's membership slowly grew in size, a few of whom became very accomplished article-writers over time, and I met Hurricane Noah and others. I eventually acquired a number of user rights in order to help with my work on Wikipedia, including Pending Changes Reviewer, Rollbacker, and Page Mover. I continued tracking tropical cyclones and regularly contributing to those articles through the summer of 2019. However, in September 2019, I took an extended series of WikiBreaks through mid-2020, due to college work and real-life activities. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic went global, and lockdowns ensued. During this time, WPTC began seeing an explosion of new editors, though I remained inactive on-wiki for another several months and missed out the first part of this growth (much to my regret). In July 2020, I finally returned to Wikipedia, during the appearance of Comet NEOWISE and the impending landfall of Hurricane Isaias. Through the remainder of the year, I gradually increased my contributions, though I had to cut back on my editing activity until December, due to college. During this period, I met some of our new WPTC members, including Destroyeraa, HurricaneCovid, CodingCyclone, CycloneFootball71, and AC5230, and I made new friends, growing extremely close to some of them. I became more involved in WPTC's work, and I also helped out some of my fellow users when they needed it. In January 2021, I joined Destroyeraa's Cyclone Cup, a competition he made based on Wikipedia's WikiCup. In the past several months, I've witnessed and experienced several tumultuous episodes on WPTC, but I toughed them out. I continued contributing to various articles during this time, and I also got my first GA, Tropical Storm Rolf, with assistance from Destroyeraa. (Yeah, I didn't have the confidence to attempt a GA before then, even though I probably had the skills to do so since 2017.) In the summer of 2021, my activities began to wane once again, as I turned my attention more towards real-life activities, taking a break, and preparing for the upcoming school year. As of this writing, I am currently in college classes once again. I probably won't remain a regular editor for more than a year (since I will be searching for employment by then) and I will likely be forced into permanent Semi-Retirement then, but truly I appreciate my time here. I've created at least 26 articles and I have 3 GAs, and I'm looking forward to more content creation in the near future. In closing, I'd like to thank my fellow editors for everything. When I first joined, I was unaware of the existence of this WikiProject (much less WikiProjects in general). I've had a rough start, but I've grown a lot during my time here, both as a writer and as a person. (I have to say, my time editing on Wikipedia really improved my writing and typing skills, which really helped me in school.) I've also made some good friends here. WPTC was also kind enough of a WikiProject for me to feel comfortable retreating to during times of trouble. I've experienced a lot here during my 12 years on Wikipedia, and looking back on it, it was worthwhile. Thank you all for everything, ~ LightandDark2000 🌀 ( talk) My experience on Wikipedia, by codingcyclone I first joined Wikipedia on May 15, 2020. It's been over a year since then, and I've definitely learned a lot and will continue to learn more about contributing here. When I first joined, I never thought that I would be where I am today. To those who have given me advice and support, and been all around lovely people throughout my journey here ( you know who you are), to name a few, hehe, your generosity means a lot to me. You have seen me at my best and at my worst, and you've been there for me through it all. You're all very sweet. codingcyclone advisories/ damages 05:59, 26 June 2021 (UTC) To start off, my wikistory isn't all that interesting, and I'm not as experienced or accomplished as the other members of WPTC, but I've been wanting to write an opinion piece, so here we go. I made my first edit the day I joined. I didn't understand the concept of WP:BOLD, so my first few edits were to talk pages to discuss what to do. I also did not know how to sign my posts. LOL. I was a bit naïve, and in retrospect, I did some stuff prematurely. Luckily, I never did anything that was too damaging to the encyclopedia at this stage. At this point, my 'better' edits were mainly typo correcting, and copyediting. My activity was sparse due to IRL stuff from May to September 2020, but by October 2020, I had found out about Twinkle, and was making more edits, mostly to revert vandalism. This led to a minor dispute with an IP after I reverted their edit, which, to me, looked like blanking. I was wrong in classifying it as vandalism, and I violated WP:DEADHORSE when replying a month later. I do think that both the IP and I were wrong in some respects, but they were certainly more experienced than me, and I was definitely mistaken in trying to continue the argument. I continued to fix typos and revert vandalism, until I saw all the neglected tropical cyclone season timelines on Wikipedia, and I started to fix them. I created Timeline of the 2013 North Indian Ocean cyclone season (very incomplete still, I'll get to it soon™) and brought Timeline of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season to FLC (still needs a bit of work, though), leading to its promotion and my first little bronze star. I did my first GAR and helped out with the GANs of Tropical Storm Fay (2020) and Hurricane Paulette. I also helped start off 2021's Atlantic and Eastern Pacific timelines, and actually guided a new editor a bit. As of this edition's release, I'm helping the 2018 FT with timelines for the Southern Hemisphere. My activity is starting to lessen, since I'm going to be kind of busy IRL and I'm trying to manage my life more efficiently and other personal stuff, but I won't forget about Wikipedia. I'll always be here, fixing the timelines up. Semi-retirement, by MarioJump83 Hi! MarioJump83 here. You know by this point that I'm semi-retired, and you can see the farewell message above by fellow members. I won't give much clarification on why I have semi-retired in this newsletter, but I'm not fully gone just yet. As I am making this piece, I have removed the DachshundLover82 farewell message which I made by myself as they are strongly reconsidering retirement and became much more active recently, as well as changing some of my farewell message, but as you can tell from these, retirement isn't a sure thing. You can still edit anywhere at any time. I've got plans to work on Wikipedia in my semi-retirement like Cyclone Cup stuff and Spoken Wikipedia but here's a catch with a little bit of clarification (that's why I said "I won't give much" - that means I still give some clarification eventually): I feel much more restricted than I have ever was since I got my laptop on September 2020 (which led to the peak of my activity next month). I tried to sleep by day and night, but my sleep attempts keep getting disturbed thus leading to lack of sleep. And many more I won't tell for now - there's a lot more than this, but it is more private. I'll can give more about why I semi-retired, but only on WPTC IRC or contact me directly on Discord (you can search SMB99thx on WPTC Discord). By the way, this will be my final OP on Hurricane Herald, but probably not the final edit on Hurricane Herald yet. Thanks for giving me support, though, for helping me cope through mental stresses for all this time, which my family didn't give much thought about it, if not truly helping at all, since they are all about their business, AND as well as trying to get me regain interest on Wikipedia, but I don't feel like I'm going to come back on full speed this year. Not sure about next year, though. Tropical cyclone infobox images, by LightandDark2000 In 2016–2018, WPTC experienced a serious of vicious edit wars involving the main infobox image on numerous tropical cyclone articles, the most vicious of which was the Hurricane Ophelia (2017) image war. Most of them were visible satellite images Vs. Infrared satellite (IR) images that were slightly closer to the peak. This series of edit wars affected numerous articles, and they continued until the edit-warriors either stopped with their attempts at changing images or ended up getting blocked (most of those blocked were IPs who continued the edit wars). In August 2020–August 2021, a new series of edit-wars erupted over tropical cyclone infobox images once again. The largest of these newer wars was one that involved Hurricane Delta's infobox image. While many of those conflicts involved the same issue of visible satellite image Vs. IR images seen in the 2016–2018 edit wars, the newer wars also included competing visible satellite images that editors thought looked better than the original, for one reason or another. I have seen these edit wars affect multiple articles (though not as many as the older wars from a few years ago), but after all this warring, multiple WPTC users have grown fed up with it, including me. After various discussions on- and off-wiki, as a project, we have successfully moved more towards discussions first instead of edit-warring, though image-warring still crops up occasionally. First of all, I will say this to those who have participated in the image wars, and those who are inclined to do so in the future: knock it off. Consider this your only warning: If you have image-warred and you have been told to stop, if you do it again, there will be consequences. It does not matter who "started it" or who was "wrong". Edit-warring, especially image wars, are completely unacceptable. Not only are they unacceptable, but they are extremely stupid. WPTC has a set of image policies that dictate what kinds of images should be used in the infoboxes of tropical cyclone articles. While there is some wiggle room for interpretation, these guidelines should be followed regarding the infobox images. You can see the linked page for the image policies themselves, but I will list the most important points here:
Please consider these guidelines in the future regarding tropical cyclone images and any changes made to them. Editing on Wikipedia should not be stressful or filled with conflict. Instead, editing should be productive, and even enjoyable. We should all keep a level head and take a mature approach in all matters. Hopefully, together, we can make these image wars a thing of the past. ~ LightandDark2000 🌀 ( talk) |
--May the Force be with you! Shreshth91 ($ |-| r 3 $ |-| t |-|) 08:45, 30 October 2005 (UTC)
Hello, WmE. You may have noticed Tawkerbot2 reverted one or more of your edits and left a message on your talk page. Wikipedia recently experienced a database malfunction, causing Tawkerbot2 to misidentify legitimate edits; hence the reversion of your edit(s) and the message. The bot has been temporarily disabled until the problems are rectified. Thanks. — Wayward Talk 16:27, 13 March 2006 (UTC)
Welcome to the Tropical Cyclone Wikiproject! We're looking forward to any future edits you can make to tropical cyclones, and we're happy to have you on board. Current projects include bettering the existing articles on retired hurricanes to GA or FA status. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Here's the latest version of our monthly newsletter. Enjoy! Hurricanehink ( talk) 11:37, 16 June 2006 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary of the activities of the WikiProject over the past month and upcoming events over the next month. In addition monthly tropical cyclone activity will be summarized.
You have received this as you are a member of the WikiProject, please add your username in the appropriate section on the mailing list. If you do not add your name to that list, the WikiProject will assume you do not wish to receive future versions of The Hurricane Herald.
Storm of the month
Typhoon Chanchu was the first typhoon and first super typhoon of the 2006 Pacific typhoon season. Forming on May 9 over the open western Pacific Ocean, Chanchu moved over the Philippines on the 11th. There, it dropped heavy rainfall, causing mudslides, crop damage, and 41 deaths. It moved into the South China Sea, where it rapidly strengthened to a super typhoon on May 14, one of only two super typhoons recorded in the sea. It turned to the north, weakened, and struck the Fujian province of China as a minimal typhoon on the 17th. The typhoon flooded 192 houses, while heavy rainfall caused deadly mudslides. In China, Chanchu caused at least 25 deaths and $480 million in damage (2006 USD). Elsewhere on its path, strong waves from the typhoon sank eleven Vietnamese ships, killing at least 44 people. In Taiwan, heavy rainfall killed two people, while in Japan, severe waves killed one person and injured another.Other tropical cyclone activity
New and improved articles
New articles and improvements wanted
Member of the month
The May member of the month is TitoXD. The WikiProject awards this to him for his brilliant work in improving articles. TitoXD joined the WikiProject in October just after it had been founded. Since then he has contributed substantially to many articles, for example Hurricane Nora (1997), which is currently a Featured Article Candidate. He is also actively involved in the assessment of articles and so helps to improve many more articles.
Explanation of content
If you have a topic which is not directly related to any specific article but is relevant to the WikiProject bring it up on the Newsletters talk page, and it will probably be included in a future edition of The Hurricane Herald.
These two sections are decided by the community on the newsletter's talk page:
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | April | May | June |
---|---|---|---|
FA | 7 | 7 | 10 |
A | 4 | 5 | 7 |
GA | 0 | 3 | 5 |
B | 62 | 66 | 82 |
Start | 154 | 177 | 168 |
Stub | 13 | 12 | 10 |
Total | 240 | 263 | 282 |
percentage ≥Less than B |
69.6 | 71.6 | 63.1 |
The assessment scale
Here's some pointers to making a good tropical cyclone article. Dear Tropical cyclone editor,
As a member of the Tropical Cyclone Wikiproject, you are receiving this message to describe how you can better tropical cyclone articles. There are hundreds of tropical cyclone articles, though many of them are poorly organized and lacking in information. Using the existing featured articles as a guide line, here is the basic format for the ideal tropical cyclone article.
Good luck with future writing, and if you have a question about the above, don't hesitate to ask.
The July issue of the WikiProject Tropical cyclones newsletter is now available. If you wish to receive the full newsletter or no longer be informed of the release of future editions, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list.-- Nilfanion ( talk) 00:56, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
By what do you as in Major Hurricane Bud, was it upgraded to a Category 3 storm or what? Alastor Moody ( talk) 01:22, 13 July 2006 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list.
Storm of the month
Severe Tropical Storm Bilis was a damaging tropical storm that caused significant damage to areas of southeastern China, the Philippines and Taiwan. The fourth named storm of the 2006 Pacific typhoon season formed to the east of the Philippines on July 8 and moved towards Taiwan, strengthening as it did so. It reached its peak strength of 110 km/h (70 mph) on July 13, shortly before it made its first landfall on northern Taiwan. Bilis then made a second landfall in Fujian, China on July 14 after officials evaucated over 1 million residents from the areas in the storm's path. The remnant lasted for several days after landfall and brought heavy rain to inland China. The most significant damage occurred in Hunan, where heavy flooding and mudslides destroyed over 31,000 homes and killed 345. Despite never reaching typhoon strength, the storm was responsible for $2.5 billion in damage and at least 625 fatalities in total.Other tropical cyclone activity
There were 10 other tropical cyclones worldwide in July, with activity in all 4 northern hemisphere basins.
Main Page content
New articles and improvements wanted
Member of the month
The July member of the month is Hurricanehink. The WikiProject awards this to him for the superb quality of his work on articles. Hurricanehink joined the project in November and has significantly contributed to many of the project's Featured Articles including Tropical Storm Allison and Hurricane Mitch. In addition to his contributions Hurricanehink also works on the assessment and improvement of most articles within the project.
New and improved articles
Storm article statistics
Grade | May | June | July | August |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 7 | 10 | 13 | 16 |
A | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
GA | 3 | 5 | 18 | 24 |
B | 66 | 82 | 79 | 77 |
Start | 177 | 168 | 180 | 191 |
Stub | 12 | 10 | 8 | 8 |
Total | 263 | 282 | 303 | 322 |
percentage ≥Less than B |
71.6 | 63.1 | 62.0 | 61.8 |
Useful sources of tropical cyclone information
The following organizations provide helpful information for writing about tropical cyclones, both past and present.
In his April Tropical Cyclone Summary, Gary Padgett stated that he will extensively reference Wikipedia in his future summaries. I have communicated with him and he has stated that he is "very much interested in cooperating" with us. He has also provided me with a copy of Jack Beven's weekly summaries (covering 1991-1996). If you want a copy of them, email me.-- Nilfanion ( talk)
|
Thanks! However...I still feel that my predictions seem too similar to last year...and I am a bit biased with them. ;) Notice how I'm a Denver Broncos fan and I have them going to the Super Bowl, lol. I don't know if I should just give in and have them win (cause I do feel that they are one of the best teams). Anyway, I still have...like...2 weeks before the season starts. I have time to change them based on preseason performances ;). bob rulz 03:03, 22 August 2006 (UTC)
Number 3, September 3, 2006
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. The WikiProject now has its own IRC channel.
Storm of the month
Typhoon Saomai (known as Typhoon Juan to PAGASA) claimed at least 441 lives and caused over $1.5 billion in damage. After forming on August 4 near Chuuk, the storm brought heavy rain and strong winds to the Marianas, the Philippines, Taiwan and southeastern China. It started to intensify, and reached its official peak with winds of 95 knots (175 km/h, 110 mph) on August 9. The JTWC reported that it peaked as a Category 5 super typhoon the same day, a strength Chinese forecasters described as the most powerful to hit China in 50 years. Saomai maintained that strength until landfall on August 10 and dissipated inland the next day.
Other tropical cyclone activity
There were 16 other tropical cyclones during August, in the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Main Page content
New articles and improvements wanted
Member of the month
The August member of the month is Nilfanion. The WikiProject awards this to him for his contributions in many diverse sections of the project. Nilfanion joined the Wikiproject in April and provides track maps for the project and has produced a featured picture. He has developed the tropical cyclone Commons Category scheme in the process. In addition he has produced a number of quality articles and is active in assessment.
New and improved articles
Storm article statistics
Grade | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 10 | 13 | 16 | 15 |
A | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
GA | 5 | 18 | 24 | 28 |
B | 82 | 79 | 77 | 79 |
Start | 168 | 180 | 191 | 200 |
Stub | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
Total | 282 | 303 | 322 | 337 |
percentage ≥Less than B |
63.1 | 62.0 | 61.8 | 61.7 |
Tropical cyclone imagery
When uploading an image of a tropical cyclone please
The following is a good image description:
{{Information
|Description=Visible image of Hurricane Ernesto on 2006-08-27 at peak strength just south of Haiti as seen by GOES-12.
|Source=Original image located here.
|Date= 2006-08-27
|Author=The Naval Research Laboratory
|Permission={{ PD-USGov-Military-Navy}}
}}
[[Category:Hurricane Ernesto (2006)]] [[Category:NRL images of tropical cyclones|Ernesto (2006)]]
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. The WikiProject has its own IRC channel.
Storm of the month
Hurricane Ioke is the most intense hurricane on record in the Central Pacific. After forming on August 19 to the south of Hawaii, Ioke moved to the northwest and hit Johnston Atoll as a Category 2 hurricane. It strengthened further as it moved to the west, reaching Category 5 strength on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale three times, twice in the Central Pacific and once in the Western Pacific. After the storm entered the Western Pacific it directly hit Wake Island. The storm finally became extratropical on September 7 but its extratropical remnants affected Alaska. Overall damage from Hurricane Ioke was light.
Other tropical cyclone activity
New and improved articles
Main Page content
New articles and improvements wanted
Storm article statistics
Grade | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 13 | 16 | 15 | 15 |
A | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 |
GA | 18 | 24 | 28 | 33 |
B | 79 | 77 | 79 | 84 |
Start | 180 | 191 | 200 | 201 |
Stub | 8 | 8 | 8 | 13 |
Total | 303 | 322 | 337 | 352 |
percentage ≥Less than B |
62.0 | 61.8 | 61.7 | 60.8 |
Member of the month
The September member of the month is Thegreatdr, David Roth. David Roth is a meteorologist at the wpc, who as part of his work there is producing Tropical Cyclone Rainfall Data. Dozens of the maps he has created are used in Wikipedia articles. He has produced a number of valuable articles to the project such as tropical cyclone rainfall climatology and Atlantic hurricane reanalysis, and significantly expanded several seasonal articles such as 1982 Pacific hurricane season.
Number 6, November 5, 2006
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. The WikiProject has its own IRC channel.
Storm of the month
Typhoon Xangsane, known as Typhoon Milenyo in the Philippines was a destructive typhoon that affected the Philippines and Indochina. The storm caused severe flooding and landslides in the regions it affected and was responsible for at least 279 deaths and $747 million ( USD) in damage, mostly in the Philippines and Vietnam. Xangsane formed to the east of the Philippines and rapidly intensified, striking Samar Island as a Category 4 typhoon. It weakened over the Philippines, but again reached Category 4 strength in the South China Sea. After its landfall in Vietnam, the typhoon dissipated, with its remnant crossing Indochina and entering the Bay of Bengal.
Other tropical cyclone activity
New articles and improvements wanted
Member of the month
The October Member of the Month is Coredesat. Coredesat joined the WikiProject in March and has contributed to many diverse areas within the project. He has written two featured articles on Atlantic storms and a number of good articles on current typhoons. However, the article he is most proud of is a disambiguation page, a sorely neglected portion of the project.
Main Page content
New and improved articles
Storm article statistics
Grade | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 16 | 15 | 15 | 16 |
A | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
GA | 24 | 28 | 33 | 48 |
B | 77 | 79 | 84 | 83 |
Start | 191 | 200 | 201 | 210 |
Stub | 8 | 8 | 13 | 11 |
Total | 322 | 337 | 352 | 375 |
percentage ≥;Less than B |
61.8 | 61.7 | 60.8 | 58.9 |
Tropical cyclone scales
The various agencies which report on tropical cyclones use a variety of different scales to measure the storms strength. The most familiar of these is the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale and this is the de facto standard in the project and should be used everywhere. However, as it is only official in the Atlantic and East Pacific, other local scales should be used when discussing storms in other regions and given primacy over the Saffir-Simpson Scale. The Saffir-Simpson scale is based on 1-minute averages, but other scales are generally based upon 10-minute averages, which are approximately 15% lower.
This table provides a useful-at-a-glance comparison of the various scales currently in use. Further complications arise due to the fact different agencies obtain different estimates for the same storm at the same time, so be careful to use the most appropriate source agency.
Number 7, December 22, 2006
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. This shortened late issue covers just global tropical cyclone activity in November, to prevent the next newsletter from being too large.
Tropical cyclone activity
Editorial
The lateness of this edition is due to me being on an wikibreak and no-one taking up the slack. My wikibreak was the result of a lightning strike damaging my internet connection and frying my router, and the time taken for the replacement to arrive. As this issue is almost 3 weeks later than planned, only the monthly cyclone activity for November has been included. The next letter will be produced for January 7, 2006 and will be larger than normal to cover both month's Wikipedia news and December's tropical activity. There will be no Member or Storm of the month in January, to reduce the length; and the newsletter will return to normal in February.-- Nilf anion ( talk) 21:59, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. The WikiProject has its own IRC channel.
Tropical cyclone activity
The Portal Portal:Tropical cyclones is designed as the entry point to the WikiProject's work and is recognised as a Featured Portal. The structure emulates that of Wikipedia's Main page and needs updating in a similar manner. The following are the key sections that need editorial attention:
Please keep all of these sections up-to-date and refresh them as new tropical cyclones develop and articles are created. Also please keep the suggestions to editors current and fresh.
New articles and improvements wanted
These tasks are those listed at Portal:Tropical cyclones/Things you can do:
Main Page content
New articles
Improved articles
Number 9, February 4, 2007
The Hurricane Herald
Storm of the month
Cyclone Clovis was named late on December 31 near to Tromelin Island. Clovis strengthened as it moved to the southwest reaching its peak the same day with 60 knot winds (according to Météo-France). The JTWC intensified Clovis more slowly, and assessed that it reached its peak with 65 knot winds on January 2, as it was nearing the Madagascar coast. The JTWC maintained this strength until it made landfall on the island on January 3. The resulting floods damaged a number of structures in Mananjary and about 1,500 people had to be evacuated. [2]Other tropical cyclone activity
The only activity during January was in the
Southern Hemisphere, with a total of 5 cyclones existing throughout the month.
New articles and improvements wanted
Member of the month
The January member of the month is Chacor, formerly known as NSLE. Chacor joined the project in November 2005, and has contributed to a wide variety of articles across the project. Recently he has generally focussed on the West Pacific and did most of the work on the first Good article in that basin: Typhoon Ewiniar (2006). He has also started the much needed process of splitting the Southern Hemisphere seasonal articles. Finally, Chacor is probably the user who maintains the quality of the most visible part of the project, the current activity.
Main Page content
New and improved articles
Storm article statistics
Grade | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 16 | 19 | 23 | 25 |
A | 7 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
GA | 48 | 57 | 74 | 75 |
B | 83 | 78 | 71 | 76 |
Start | 210 | 200 | 193 | 195 |
Stub | 11 | 15 | 16 | 16 |
Total | 375 | 375 | 379 | 389 |
percentage Less than B |
58.9 | 57.3 | 55.1 | 54.2 |
A quick note: When you create a new article please list it in the appropriate section on the project's page and add a fact from the article to the Portal. Thanks.
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list.
Storm of the month
Cyclone Favio developed well to the east of northern Madagascar on February 12 and moved to the southwest as it developed. The storm did not significantly intensify until February 19 when it was just off the soutern coast of Madagascar, but rapidly intenstified soon after to its peak with 185 km/h (115 mph) winds. Favio turned to the northwest and hit Mozambique worsening the floods already occuring in the country. Favio claimed at least 4 lives and destroyed thousands of homes.
Other tropical cyclone activity
There were a total of 6 tropical cyclones in the
southern hemisphere during February. Five of these, including Favio, were in the South West Indian Ocean.
Member of the month
The February member of the month is Miss Madeline. Miss Madeline is responsible for many of the projects featured lists such as List of Category 5 Pacific hurricanes and List of California hurricanes. She has also put serious work into many of our Pacific hurricane articles since she joined the project as one of its founding members. Recently she has worked on 1996 Pacific hurricane season, bringing it from a stub-class article to a Good article candidate.
New and improved articles
Main Page content
New articles and improvements wanted
Storm article statistics
Grade | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 19 | 23 | 25 | 28 |
A | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
GA | 57 | 74 | 75 | 80 |
B | 78 | 71 | 76 | 78 |
Start | 200 | 193 | 195 | 194 |
Stub | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
Total | 375 | 379 | 389 | 398 |
percentage Less than B |
57.3 | 55.1 | 54.2 | 52.8 |
Comments wanted on project talk Many discussions that potentially have far reaching impact for the whole project are carried out on the project's talk page. However, only a fraction of our active contributors actually engage in those discussions. If you add the project page to your Watchlist and keep an eye on discussions there to monitor upcoming changes, even if you don't participate in those discussions it would help both yourself and the project as a whole. For instance, at the moment the primary infobox templates such as {{ Infobox hurricane}} are in the process of being deprecated and replaced by new versions which do the role more effectively.
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Hurricane Will developed from a tropical wave to the east of the Caribbean Sea and intensified. It crossed over Jamaica and re-emerged over water a few days later. The storm intensified into a hurricane and an eye began to develop. Will became a major hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall on the vulnerable Gulf Coast of the United States soon after. To date, Hurricane Will has claimed over 350 lives and is directly responsible for about $5 billion of damages; of which an unknown amount was insured. Despite the damage, it is not expected that the name will be retired by WMO.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The April member of the month is HurricaneIrene. Irene began contributing to tropical cyclone articles on Wikipedia in August 2005, but ran out of steam and left after barely 2 weeks. However, Irene's influence on the project has been wide-reaching. Her efforts led directly to two articles attaining featured status and her legacy inspired many of our most active editors to write a plethora of good articles on a wide range of storms.
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 23 | 25 | 28 | 29 |
A | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
GA | 74 | 75 | 80 | 82 |
B | 71 | 76 | 78 | 80 |
Start | 193 | 195 | 194 | 209 |
Stub | 16 | 16 | 16 | 17 |
Total | 379 | 389 | 398 | 419 |
percentage Less than B |
55.1 | 54.2 | 52.8 | 53.9 |
The Main Page
The WikiProject has a narrow scope, so it is not surprising that our articles are not frequently selected for Today's featured article. Most destructive cyclones are likely to be mentioned on the In the news column. We have no real control over that, but we should submit suggestions when appropriate.
However, we can do a more lot more to place our content in the other major section of the main page: The Did you know column. In the past month we created over 30 articles. Of these only 2 were even submitted as suggestions for DYK. We can do much better, please submit DYK entries for new articles when you do the initial assessment.
Number 12, January 10, 2008
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This edition of the newsletter, after an extended hiatus, covers December 2007 and the first ten days of January 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Tropical Storm Olga was a rare Atlantic December tropical cyclone. The fifteenth named storm of the season, it developed near Puerto Rico on December 11, and quickly struck the Dominican Republic. There, it brought heavy rainfall and severe damage, and caused more than 40 deaths. Casualties were also reported in Puerto Rico and Haiti. The storm greatly weakened as it crossed Hispaniola, degenerating into a remnant low pressure area in the Caribbean Sea on December 13. The remnants of Olga passed near the Yucatán Peninsula before turning northward and bringing rainfall to Florida.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The December member of the month is Mitchazenia. Mitchazenia has been a project member since 2006. He has created several tropical cyclone related articles, including the good article Subtropical Storm One (1982). Mitchazenia significantly contributed to 1983 Atlantic hurricane season, which is currently a featured article candidate.
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 30 | 30 | 31 | 33 |
A | 4 | 9 | 8 | 9 |
GA | 105 | 106 | 109 | 112 |
B | 80 | 78 | 82 | 86 |
Start | 213 | 212 | 211 | 208 |
Stub | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
Total | 438 | 440 | 447 | 454 |
percentage Less than B |
50.0 | 49.3 | 48.5 | 47.1 |
Categories and more The project has gone under somewhat of a revamping. We have a new, more realistic goal. The members list has been dropped from 89 to 34. This newsletter is to inform users of a change in policy with categories. Previously, an Atlantic and Pacific storm article would have both Category:Atlantic hurricanes and Category:Category 3 tropical cyclones. However, the two were combined, resulting in Category:Category 3 Atlantic hurricanes. The same is done with Pacific hurricanes. Tropical storm articles are dealt with either Category:Eastern Pacific tropical storms or Category:Atlantic tropical storms.
Number 13, February 2, 2008
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of January 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Cyclone Gene formed on January 26 over the open south Pacific Ocean. It drifted southward, and strengthened into Tropical Storm Gene on January 28 as it moved across the Fijian archipelago. There, it brought heavy rainfall, which caused the worst flooding in several years. Half of the country was left without power, and the cyclone killed seven people in Fiji. The storm turned southwestward, developing a cloud-filled eye and quickly strengthening by the end of the month.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The January member of the month is Ajm81. A tropical cyclone editor since he first joined in October 2005, Ajm81 plays a vital role in the project. Unlike other editors, who mainly edit articles, Ajm81 maintains and updates the track maps across the project. We thank Ajm81 for his timely contributions, and may he have some well-deserved downtime after the last tropical cyclone report is released.
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 30 | 31 | 33 | 33 |
A | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
GA | 106 | 109 | 112 | 114 |
B | 78 | 82 | 86 | 99 |
Start | 212 | 211 | 208 | 214 |
Stub | 5 | 6 | 6 | 3 |
Total | 440 | 447 | 454 | 472 |
ω | 3.02 | 3.01 | 2.98 | 2.98 |
percentage Less than B |
49.3 | 48.5 | 47.1 | 46.0 |
Wikiwork and 1000 articles In January 2008, the WikiProject began using a system called Wikiwork, or ω. It weighs the overall quality of the project's articles, and a lower number means a greater total quality. The weighed ω, as used above, is a relative number that can be used to compare groups of this article. As of this publication, the relative ω of the project is 3.404, corresponding to between Start and B class. However, when limiting it solely to storm articles, the number drops to 2.98, which is slightly better than B class. During the month, a new statistics page was created.
Additionally, during the month, Mitchazenia pointed out that we received our 1,000th article with the creation of Cyclone Elita.
♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 16:41, 2 February 2008 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of February 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Cyclone Ivan formed on February 7 and subsequently executed a loop to the west-southwest. Encountering favorable conditions, it strengthened to attain peak winds on February 17 before striking northeastern Madagascar. It degenerated into a remnant low pressure area as it crossed the island, and briefly re-organized into a weak tropical depression before dissipating on February 22. Ivan caused heavy damage in Madagascar, leaving 190,000 people homeless and causing over 83 deaths.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The February member of the month is RattleMan, for his lasting dedication and continual support of the project. During February, the user worked on improving the timeline articles for the previous season. RattleMan often updates the sections on storms in season articles, and helps to maintain the southern hemisphere articles.
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 31 | 33 | 33 | 36 |
A | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 |
GA | 109 | 112 | 114 | 123 |
B | 82 | 86 | 99 | 96 |
Start | 211 | 208 | 214 | 216 |
Stub | 6 | 6 | 3 | 6 |
Total | 447 | 454 | 472 | 485 |
ω | 3.01 | 2.98 | 2.98 | 2.96 |
percentage Less than B |
48.5 | 47.1 | 46.0 | 45.8 |
percentage GA or better |
33.1 | 33.9 | 33.1 | 34.3 |
Improvements During the month, a total of 15 new articles were added, though the net increase in start or stub articles was only three. The highest quality set of articles for a basin is for the Eastern Pacific Ocean, of which half of its articles are either a good article or better; all of its retired storm articles are good or better. However, the basin has a lower total number of articles, and the Atlantic basin has a higher overall total of good articles.
There is a drive to increase the number of featured topics, which is located on the project talk page.
♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 05:02, 2 March 2008 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of March 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Cyclone Jokwe was the first tropical cyclone to make landfall in Mozambique since Cyclone Favio struck in the previous year. The tenth named storm of the 2007-08 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, Jokwe was first classified as a tropical depression on March 2 over the open Southwest Indian Ocean. It tracked west-southwest, crossing northern Madagascar as a tropical storm on March 5 before intensifying into a tropical cyclone on March 6. Jokwe rapidly intensified to reach peak winds of 195 km/h (120 mph), before weakening slightly and striking Nampula Province in northeastern Mozambique. It quickly weakened while paralleling the coastline, though the storm restrengthened as it turned southward in the Mozambique Channel. Late in its duration, it remained nearly stationary for several days, and steadily weakened due to wind shear before dissipating on March 16.
The storm caused minor damage in northern Madagascar. In Mozambique, the cyclone affected 165,000 people, and left at least sixteen fatalities. Cyclone Jokwe destroyed over 9,000 houses and damaged over 3,000 more, with the heaviest damage in Angoche and the Island of Mozambique in Nampula Province. The storm also caused widespread power outages and crop damages.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The March member of the month is CapeVerdeWave, whose first edit was to a tropical cyclone article, back in January 2006. CapeVerdeWave has been a steady and active member of the project, writing several articles on Category 5 hurricanes as well as working on the often forgotten older hurricanes. The user also has contributed to some older season articles, and recently helped update the project after the recent hurricane re-analysis. We thank him for his continued dedication.
New members
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 33 | 33 | 36 | 38 |
A | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
GA | 112 | 114 | 123 | 130 |
B | 86 | 99 | 96 | 91 |
Start | 208 | 214 | 216 | 211 |
Stub | 6 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
Total | 454 | 472 | 485 | 487 |
ω | 2.98 | 2.98 | 2.96 | 2.94 |
percentage Less than B |
47.1 | 46.0 | 45.8 | 45.2 |
percentage GA or better |
33.9 | 33.1 | 34.3 | 36.1 |
Project News: Updates on the Best Track - Atlantic and North Indian Ocean, and more
In February, the
Hurricane Research Division released its reanalysis for the Atlantic Ocean from 1915 to 1920. Highlights include the addition of eight storms, as well as the removal of one storm. The winds in the
1919 Florida Keys Hurricane were increased to 130 knots, and the 1916 Texas hurricane was increased to a Category 4 hurricane.
According to an email sent to the India Meteorological Department, there will be an online version of the North Indian Ocean best track from 1877 to 2006, scheduled to be released in two months; it is unknown if it will cost money to access.
In unrelated news, the project was featured on the Signpost; Mitchazenia was interviewed, and talked about the past, present, and future of the project.
At the end of the month, there were five different Featured content candidates (FXC's) by five different editors; two were featured article candidates, two were featured list candidates, and one was a featured picture candidate. The have been a few times in which there were four FXC's from four different editors, most recently in February and early March of 2008.
♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 02:41, 6 April 2008 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of April 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Typhoon Neoguri was the earliest tropical cyclone on record to strike China. It formed on April 13 to the east of the Philippines, and once entering the South China Sea, environmental conditions allowed for quick strengthening. Neoguri attained its peak intensity of 150 km/h (90 mph) as it approached the island of Hainan, though rapidly weakened due to unfavorable conditions. The system made landfall in southern China on April 19, causing three deaths and moderate damage totaling over ¥296 million (2008 RMB, $42 million 2008 USD). The typhoon left 40 fishermen missing in the South China Sea.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The April member of the month is VOFFA. Though not officially a project member, VOFFA is an important user to the project, having maintained and updated the talk page archives on tropical cyclones worldwide; activity includes adding warnings and discussions for all storms. The user is particularly active during the off-season of the Atlantic basin, when article activity on tropical cyclones typically declines.
New members
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 33 | 36 | 38 | 40 |
A | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
GA | 114 | 123 | 130 | 131 |
B | 99 | 96 | 91 | 103 |
Start | 214 | 216 | 211 | 208 |
Stub | 3 | 6 | 9 | 9 |
Total | 472 | 485 | 487 | 499 |
ω | 2.98 | 2.96 | 2.94 | 2.92 |
percentage Less than B |
46.0 | 45.8 | 45.2 | 43.5 |
percentage GA or better |
33.1 | 34.3 | 36.1 | 35.9 |
Project News
There is discussion on the status of articles on non-notable storms in the
Merging page of the project. Comments are welcome.
A Wikipedia traffic counter was launched earlier this year. In the month of February, the article on Hurricane Katrina was viewed just over 200,000 times, making the article the 496th most viewed article on the English Wikipedia during the month.
During the month, Hurricane Camille was demoted from GA status, continuing the trend of good articles degrading in status on notable storms; other occurrences include the FA removal of Cyclone Tracy and 1900 Galveston Hurricane. If anyone has any ideas how to fix the problem, feedback and ideas are appreciated.
♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 03:58, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of May 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Cyclone Nargis was the costliest and deadliest natural disaster in the history of Burma (Myanmar). It formed on April 27 in the central Bay of Bengal, and after initially tracking north-northwestward it turned to the east. Quickly strengthening to reach peak winds of at least 165 km/h (105 mph), Nargis made landfall in the Ayeyarwady Division of Burma on May 2 near peak intensity. The cyclone killed at least 80,000 people and potentially over 300,000. Passing near the metropolis of Yangon, the cyclone destroyed thousands of buildings, and damage was estimated at over $10 billion (USD). In the wake of the storm, the ruling military junta of Burma initially refused foreign aid, and after they allowed foreign assistance, the government was criticized for its poor handling of the aftermath of the storm.
Other tropical cyclone activity
New and improved articles
Project News
Several other languages are active in the realm of tropical cyclone articles, though as much as ours. The
French Wikipedia has 76 storm articles, the
Spanish Wikipedia has 99 storm articles, and the
Portuguese Wikipedia has 116 storm articles. Each of the projects have several storm articles we do not have, and the coverage on non-notable storms outside of the Atlantic is better, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere.
During the month, User:Potapych finished working on Template:Infobox Hurricane Small, which is used for the small Infoboxes in season articles; he has updated several season article already with the changes.
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Feb | Mar | Apr | May |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 36 | 38 | 40 | 41 |
A | 8 | 8 | 8 | 17 |
GA | 123 | 130 | 131 | 129 |
B | 96 | 91 | 103 | 101 |
Start | 216 | 211 | 208 | 209 |
Stub | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
Total | 487 | 487 | 499 | 506 |
ω | 2.96 | 2.94 | 2.92 | 2.88 |
percentage ≥Less than B |
45.8 | 45.2 | 43.5 | 43.1 |
percentage ≥GA or better |
34.3 | 36.1 | 35.9 | 367.0 |
Member of the month
The May member of the month is Juliancolton. Joining the project in November 2007, Julian has become an active member of the project, working on new articles in the Atlantic basin. He has created two featured lists ( List of Maryland and Washington, D.C. hurricanes (1980–present) and List of New York hurricanes), and rewrote the article on 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, which became featured during May. Juliancolton is currently working on a featured topic for Hurricane Dennis and its effects by region.
New members
♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 02:47, 8 June 2008 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of June 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Typhoon Fengshen was the deadliest Pacific typhoon since Typhoon Durian in November of 2006. The sixth named storm of the 2008 Pacific typhoon season, Fengshen developed on June 18 to the east of the Philippines, and after attaining typhoon status it stuck the island of Samar. It intensified while passing through the archipelago, reaching winds of over 175 km/h (110 mph) before passing near Metro Manila. Fengshen later weakened in the South China Sea, and it dissipated on June 26 after moving ashore in China.
The typhoon killed over 1,300 people, including 800 when the MV Princess of the Stars capsized during the storm. Damage totaled $247 million (USD), with over 300,000 houses damaged or destroyed. The damage total included $70 million (USD) in crop damage.
Other tropical cyclone activity
New and improved articles
Addition of C-class
During the month, C-class
was added to the assessment scheme. The project has begun the process of integrating C-class, though as of this publication only 8 articles in the project are at that level. A preliminary solution would be to very strictly define B-class with
six criteria, with
one proposal to automatically re-assess all B-class articles as C-class until they are confirmed to have passed the criteria. Discussion and participation are welcome on the issue.
As a result of the addition of C-class, the ω ( WikiWork) rating for C-class is now 3.5, to keep in line with the previous system we used.
During the month, the project published a page on its style for articles. The purpose for the page, as quoted from the top of the page, is to document a few existing unwritten guidelines for Wikipedia:WikiProject Tropical cyclones.
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 38 | 40 | 41 | 41 |
A | 8 | 8 | 17 | 18 |
GA | 130 | 131 | 129 | 135 |
B | 91 | 103 | 101 | 96 |
C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Start | 211 | 208 | 209 | 208 |
Stub | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
Total | 487 | 499 | 506 | 510 |
ω | 2.94 | 2.92 | 2.88 | 2.87 |
percentage ≥Less than C |
45.2 | 43.5 | 43.1 | 42.5 |
percentage ≥GA or better |
36.1 | 35.9 | 37.0 | 38.0 |
Member of the month
The June member of the month is User:Potapych. Though not officially a member of the project, Potapych is active on hurricane pages, having developed the new small infobox template introduced last month. After developing the new template, Potapych updated season articles across the board to accommodate the new template.
New members
♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 03:36, 6 July 2008 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of July 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Hurricane Bertha was a rare early season Cape Verde-type hurricane and the easternmost forming July tropical storm on record. Bertha became the longest-lived pre-August Atlantic tropical cyclone on record and the longest-lived tropical cyclone in the Atlantic Basin since Ivan in 2004. The second named storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, Bertha developed from a tropical wave that emerged off the coast of Africa on July 1. After initially remaining weak while tracking westward, Bertha began to strengthen on July 6, and the next day it quickly intensified to reach peak winds of 120 mph (195 km/h). The hurricane weakened during the day on July 8, and after turning to a northwest drift, it passed within 40 miles (64 km) of Bermuda on July 14 before moving northeast away from the island. Bertha became extratropical on July 20 to the east of Newfoundland, after causing minimal damage and three indirect drowning deaths.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The July member of the month is User:Plasticup. Joining the project in August of 2007, Plasticup first became an asset in working on the active article series on Hurricane Dean. After a period of inactivity, the user returned to produce two featured articles this month, both interesting meteorological histories. Additionally, Plasticup has focused some attention to articles in the 2005 season. Keep up the good work!
New members
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics </noinclude>
Grade | Apr | May | Jun | Jul |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 40 | 41 | 41 | 42 |
A | 8 | 17 | 18 | 18 |
GA | 131 | 129 | 135 | 139 |
B | 103 | 101 | 96 | 15 |
C | 0 | 0 | 3 | 98 |
Start | 208 | 209 | 208 | 202 |
Stub | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
Total | 499 | 506 | 510 | 524 |
ω | 2.92 | 2.88 | 2.87 | 2.94 |
percentage ≥Less than C |
43.5 | 43.1 | 42.5 | 40.5 |
percentage ≥GA or better |
35.9 | 37.0 | 38.0 | 38.0 |
Project News
During July, there were two large changes to the operations of the WikiProject. First, WPTC adopted and helped develop the
WP 1.0 B-Class criteria, and was among the first projects to use a "forced" B-Class rubric as part of their assessment schemes. This means that all the articles tagged with {{hurricane|class=B|...}}
are automatically reassessed as {{
C-Class}}, unless all the values in the
checklist are marked as passed. In other words, to mark an article as B-Class, the banner needs to be changed to
{{ hurricane |class=B |B1=yes |B2=yes |B3=yes |B4=yes |B5=yes |B6=yes | ... }}
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5 and B6 stand for each of the six points in the WikiProject's rubric. The banner also has the capability to mark why an article doesn't meet the new B-Class standards: Typing the following in an article's talk page
{{ hurricane |class=B |B1=no |B2=yes |B3=yes |B4=yes |B5=yes |B6=yes | ... }}
will assess an article as C-Class, and mark that the article is not a B because of bad references.
Articles assessed as B's before the introduction of the forced checklist were automatically reassessed as C's, but they're awaiting new reviews to check if they still meet the new B criteria. These articles are listed on Category:Tropical cyclone articles with incomplete B-Class checklists. Currently, there's 117 articles in the category—let's try to shrink that number to zero before the next edition of the Herald!
The other major change to the WikiProject was the addition of three
task forces: the
storm articles task force,
season articles task force, and the
tropical meteorology articles task force. These three task forces allow WPTC to see the progress of the different areas of the WikiProject. Currently, all 1,076 WPTC articles have been assigned to one of the three task forces, but any unsorted articles will be placed in
Category:Unsorted tropical cyclone articles as they're tagged with {{
hurricane}}
.
In order to categorize an article, the banner needs to be modified from {{hurricane|...}}
to:
{{ hurricane |storms-task-force=yes | ... }} {{ hurricane |seasons-task-force=yes | ... }} {{ hurricane |meteo-task-force=yes | ... }}
which will sort the pages into the storms, seasons, and tropical meteorology task forces, respectively.
♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 03:33, 3 August 2008 (UTC)
Number 20, September 6, 2008
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of August 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Hurricane Gustav was a deadly and damaging hurricane which formed late in the month in the Caribbean Sea. It first struck Haiti on August 26 as a minimal hurricane, where it killed 76 people and damaged or destroyed over 10,000 houses. Gustav turned to the southwest, moving over Jamaica where it killed 11 people. The hurricane rapidly intensified to reach peak winds of 150 mph (240 km/h) before making landfall on western Cuba; in the country, Gustav damaged or destroyed over 100,000 houses, though no deaths were reported due to well-executed evacuations. In the Gulf of Mexico, Gustav weakened due to its previous land interaction, and on September 1 it made landfall in south-central Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane, where it caused heavy damage. Across its path, the hurricane caused 101 deaths, with an initial damage total of $20 billion.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The August member of the month is Cyclonebiskit, who has been on Wikipedia since April. The user helped maintain the current season articles as well as storm articles. Cyclonebiskit has written one GA, and wrote much of one of the recent tropical cyclone articles.
New members
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | May | Jun | Jul | Aug |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 41 | 41 | 42 | 46 |
A | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
GA | 129 | 135 | 139 | 147 |
B | 101 | 96 | 15 | 15 |
C | 0 | 3 | 98 | 99 |
Start | 209 | 208 | 202 | 197 |
Stub | 9 | 9 | 10 | 15 |
Total | 506 | 510 | 524 | 537 |
ω | 2.88 | 2.87 | 2.94 | 2.92 |
percentage ≥Less than C |
43.1 | 42.5 | 40.5 | 39.5 |
percentage ≥GA or better |
37.0 | 38.0 | 38.0 | 39.3 |
Version 0.7
This month, several of the WikiProject's articles were selected for the
Version 1.0 Editorial Team's
Version 0.7 static release. The article selection occurs using an
automated process using WikiProjects' quality and importance assessments. For WPTC, this means that 29 articles will be part of this release, an increase from 13 in the
previous release. It should be noted that these numbers are based on preliminary data that can change based on updates to the database and corrections to the selection algorithm and WP:1.0's cut-off score.
The list of articles chosen for the release can be seen here. Of the selection, almost half of the articles are already featured, and eleven are good articles. There one B-Class article ( 1970 Bhola cyclone, two C-Class articles ( Hurricane Andrew, Cyclone Nargis), and two Start-Class articles ( Pacific typhoon, Hurricane Rita). As these articles will be published in a CD, it is imperative that the project improve them quickly.
The full list of all the WikiProject's articles is also available here. According to that list, WPTC's highest-scoring article— Tropical cyclone—has a score of 1969, which is very good as Canada, the selection's highest-scoring article, has a score of 2,409. That said, Extreme wind warning is the least important article we have, with a score of 227, so we may have to improve it a little bit so it isn't that low...
♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 05:15, 7 September 2008 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of September 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
As a result of an extended Wikibreak, I will not be able to work on the next month's newsletter. Other users are welcome to get it together. ♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 03:53, 5 October 2008 (UTC)
Storm of the month
Hurricane Ike was among the costliest Atlantic hurricanes on record, based on a preliminary damage estimate of $31.5 billion ( USD). The ninth named storm, fifth hurricane, and third major hurricane of the 2008 season, Ike developed on September 1 in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. Maintaining a generally westward track throughout its duration, Ike reached Category 4 status on the Saffir-Simpson scale, moving across the Turks and Caicos Islands at that intensity before weakening and crossing Cuba; heavy damage was reported in Cuba, which was still recovering from Hurricane Gustav just weeks prior. Gustav later moved across the Gulf of Mexico and struck near Galveston, Texas, where its effects were estimated as the costliest hurricane in Texas history. Further inland, the storm brought high winds and widespread damage, and its impact reached as far as Canada. Throughout its path, Gustav caused over 100 deaths, mostly in Texas and Haiti, and several hundred remain missing.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The September member of the month is CrazyC83, who has been a steady editor within the project for the past few years. Lately, the user's contributions include maintaining the current season articles, which is the biggest workload for the project. In the past, however, CrazyC83 was very active in writing articles, and was a proponent for all storms in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season getting articles. Of note was his contributions to Hurricane Juan, which brought it to featured status and later to the main page.
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 41 | 42 | 46 | 47 |
A | 18 | 18 | 18 | 19 |
GA | 135 | 139 | 147 | 161 |
B | 96 | 15 | 15 | 17 |
C | 3 | 98 | 99 | 107 |
Start | 208 | 202 | 197 | 201 |
Stub | 9 | 10 | 15 | 19 |
Total | 510 | 524 | 537 | 571 |
ω | 2.87 | 2.94 | 2.92 | 2.92 |
percentage ≥Less than C |
42.5 | 40.5 | 39.5 | 38.5 |
percentage ≥GA or better |
38.0 | 38.0 | 39.3 | 39.8 |
Project News
Overall, the project has had a relatively uneventful month. One of the most noteworthy events was the selection of 32 tropical cyclone-related articles, that were
chosen as part of
Wikipedia 0.7. Wikipedia 0.7 is a collection of English Wikipedia articles due to be released on DVD, and available for free download, later this year. While many of the selected articles are of featured or good quality, several require substantial cleanup and expansion.
In other news, a handful of changes to project standards have taken place. Per a consensus on the project's talk page, the section of each tropical cyclone article previously entitled "Storm history" has been changed to "Meteorological history", thanks in part to Plasticup's bot which preformed the hundreds of edits to execute the change. In addition, a discussion is ongoing regarding the necessity of List of storms in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, and similar articles for other seasons.
New members
♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk) 03:58, 5 October 2008 (UTC)
Number 22, November 2, 2008
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of October 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Deep Depression ARB 02 caused the 2008 Yemen floods. On October 19 the IMD noted that an area of low pressure which located to the south east of Salalah, Oman had intensifed in to a tropical depression and was assigned the number ARB 02. On October 21 IMD updated the system to a Deep Depression while it lay 700 km south of Salalah, Oman near the east coast of Somalia. It lost its strength while crossing the Gulf of Aden due to entry of dry air and land interaction as it passed close to the northeastern coast of Somalia. It later was downgraded to a Depression, named TC 03B by the JTWC. On October 24 it made landfall on the south-eastern coast of Yemen, leaving at least 26 civilians and six soldiers dead while trapping hundreds of people due to flooding and torrential rainfalls. The latest figure of casualties is of 184 persons dead and 100 others missing, mostly from the region of Hadhramawt, where the storm made landfall. A total of 733 houses were destroyed in the governorates of Hadhramaut and Al Mahrah, while 22,000 people were displaced. The Yemeni Government declared the two aforementioned governorates as disaster zones.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The October member of the month is Hurricanehink. Since joining the project near its inception, Hurricanehink has been involved in bringing forty two articles, eighteen lists and six topics to featured status. Just this month, Hurricanehink was mentioned in the Signpost Dispatch. Hurricanehink has also been the regular distributor for this newsletter.
New members
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 42 | 46 | 47 | 48 |
A | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 |
GA | 139 | 145 | 161 | 187 |
B | 15 | 14 | 17 | 12 |
C | 98 | 99 | 107 | 113 |
Start | 202 | 197 | 201 | 201 |
Stub | 10 | 15 | 19 | 20 |
Total | 524 | 537 | 571 | 600 |
ω | 2.94 | 2.92 | 2.92 | 2.88 |
percentage ≥Less than C |
40.5 | 39.5 | 38.5 | 36.8 |
percentage ≥GA or better |
38.0 | 39.3 | 39.8 | 42.3 |
Project News
A
discussion concerning sandboxes for next year's articles has begun. Please consider working on sandboxes so they will be ready to publish. As tropical cyclones can form at any time in the western Pacific and northern Indian Oceans, these two season's should be made ready for cyclones by December. Ideally, due to the possibility of pre-season storms, the eastern Pacific and Atlantic seasons should also be ready by then, but they should at least be ready by the northern-Hemisphere antipeak in late February and early March. Seasons for the years 2010 to 2015 should be given the name "Post-2009 {ocean name} {cyclone term} seasons", as in "Post 2009 Atlantic hurricane seasons".
A category for tropical cyclone articles of very-low importance has been introduced. Although discussion is still ongoing, a rating of very-low-importance will generally be given to weak cyclones that do not have impact or set any sort of record.
Editorial
This month, our usual editor,
Hurricanehink, has been on a semi-wikibreak until further notice. I am filling in as editor and distributor on an interim basis. The newsletter will continue as normal during that time. Thank you.
Miss Madeline |
Talk to Madeline
00:49, 2 November 2008 (UTC)
Miss Madeline | Talk to Madeline 01:27, 2 November 2008 (UTC)
Number 23,
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of November & December 2008.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Hurricane Paloma
Hurricane Paloma was the second most powerful November hurricane on record in the Atlantic Basin, behind
Hurricane Lenny in 1999. It was the third and final major hurricane to hit Cuba in 2008, being the first time that three major hurricanes have struck Cuba in one season. It also marked the first time that at least one major hurricane formed in every month of the hurricane season from July to November, with only June not having a major hurricane this season.
Hurricane Paloma was also the last Tropical Depression of the 2008 season, and caused at least $1.4 billion in damage and was responsible for at least one direct death.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The November/December member of the month is Thegreatdr, who has been a steady editor within the project for the past few years. Lately, the user's contributions include improving some of the Pacific Typhoon season articles from the 1980s. Thegreatdr has also tipped us off about going on's at the National Hurricane Center and the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center.
New members
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 47 | 49 | 49 | 50 |
A | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 |
GA | 161 | 187 | 198 | 202 |
B | 17 | 13 | 21 | 22 |
C | 107 | 119 | 118 | 122 |
Start | 201 | 204 | 210 | 210 |
Stub | 19 | 19 | 16 | 17 |
Total | 571 | 613 | 631 | 642 |
ω | 2.92 | 2.88 | 2.87 | 2.87 |
percentage ≥Less than C |
38.5 | 36.4 | 35.8 | 35.4 |
percentage ≥GA or better |
39.8 | 42.1 | 42.2 | 42.2 |
Project News
During the last two months there have been several important discussions of which some are still seeking contributions from members. These include discussions about:
We discovered during December that the Australian Bureau of Meteorology have started to designate the Tropical Lows that form within their region with letter U. It is unclear whether either TCWC Jakarta or TCWC Port Moresby assign any designations to lows that form within their Area of Responsibility.
– Juliancolton Tropical Cyclone 02:59, 4 January 2009 (UTC)
Number 24, March 7
The Hurricane Herald
This is the bi-monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of January 2009 and February 2009.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Cyclone Fanele was the first
cyclone of
tropical cyclone status to strike western
Madagascar since Cyclone Fame one year prior. It formed on January 18 in the
Mozambique Channel, and
rapidly organized, reaching peak winds of 185
km/h (115
mph). It weakened before moving ashore in
Menabe Region southwest of
Morondava, and rapidly deteriorated over land. Fanele briefly re-intensified after reaching open waters, only to become an
extratropical cyclone by January 23. The cyclone caused heavy damage near where it moved ashore and along its path, resulting in at least eight deaths. Fanele struck Madagascar just two days after
Tropical Storm Eric brushed the northeastern portion of the country. The two storms affected over 50,000 people, of which at least 4,000 were left homeless. Fanele struck the country during a series of
government protests, and consequentially relief efforts were hindered.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The member of the month is... HurricaneSpin HurricaneSpin is a relativly new member of the project who has helped the project out by finding photos of Tropical Cyclones and uploading them to Commons. He is still getting to grips with the project but is coming on in leaps and bounds thus we have decided to make him the Member of the Month, for January and February 2009.
New members
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Oct | Nov | Dec | Feb |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 49 | 50 | 50 | 56 |
A | 19 | 19 | 19 | 17 |
GA | 190 | 198 | 202 | 239 |
B | 13 | 21 | 22 | 14 |
C | 119 | 118 | 122 | 122 |
Start | 204 | 210 | 210 | 198 |
Stub | 19 | 16 | 17 | 28 |
Total | 613 | 631 | 642 | 669 |
ω | 2.88 | 2.87 | 2.87 | 2.80 |
percentage ≥Less than C |
36.4 | 35.8 | 35.4 | 33.0 |
percentage ≥GA or better |
42.1 | 42.2 | 42.2 | 46.6 |
Project News
The project reached a milestone in the last two months in terms of article quality for all articles within the project. For the first time, the percentage of
Good articles or better reached more than 1/3, and at the same time, the percentage of Start or Stub articles totaled less than 50%. In the previous twelve months, the overall project grew by 262 articles, of which 204, or 78%, were GA or better. Additionally, in terms of only storm articles, the project now has 46.6% of its articles as GA or better, and only 1/3 are Start or Stub. Unfortunately, much of that is due to newly-created articles easily attaining GA status. For storm articles, the total number of Start or Stub articles, currently 226, is about the same as it was a year ago. The lack of work on older articles is especially noticeable on season articles, where more than 75% of articles are still Stub or Start.
In an attempt to improve articles, there is talk of forming a collaboration between a few Wikipedians. The current project is to improve Hurricane Camille to FA status in time for its 40th anniversary this August. There is still plenty of work to be done, so if you're interested, any help would be appreciated.
Additionally, there is a recent discussion on the WPTC talk page about establishing a notability criteria. There was talk in the past of instating one, although this time the proposal is backed up by interpretations of existing Wikipedia policy. The proposal would limit articles to tropical cyclones that have at least one independent, reliable source other than any warning centers. Excluding cross-basin, off-season, or 64+ knot cyclones, the proposal would affect 26 articles, none of which affected land or lasted for an appreciable amount of time.
Jason Rees ( talk) 01:09, 9 March 2009 (UTC)
Number 25, April 4 The Hurricane Herald This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to provide a summary of both the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclones. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers March 2009. Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles. Storm of the month Hamish indirectly caused a major environmental disaster along the Queensland coastline, when strong waves from the cyclone damaged the hull of a cargo ship, spilling 260 tonnes of fuel and oil into the ocean. The oil washed onto the coastline, endangering the environment prompting a costly cleanup. Offshore, the fishermen went missing after the boat was lost; one person was found, although the other two remained missing and were presumed dead. As the storm remained offshore, overall damage directly from the storm was minor, primarily from strong waves. Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month The member of the month is... Ramisses, has been a member of the Project since January 2008. He is a usefull editor who helps to make the trackmaps for the current season articles, as well as numerous other storms, from previous seasons. We just hope he is able to keep on top of the trackmaps when the busy part of the year comes! New members New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Project News As part of the above discussion, there is a request for all active members to sign a list to affirm they are still active members in the project. If you don't sign the list, or if you don't consider yourself active anymore, your name will be placed on the inactive members list on May 1st. Hurricanehink has organised a challenge to try and improve some of the Tropical cyclone articles. The rules are that you must take either an seasonal or a storm article from one of the eight basins we have, that is either a Stub, Start class or a brand new article and improve it to at least GA status. However to avoid several articles on cyclones that did not affect land, Hurricanehink has limited the challenge to storms/seasonal articles of Mid-importance or higher. Their is an exception to this rule for the Central Pacific as Cyclones rarely form in this basin. - For full details of the challenge see the Project's Talkpage Project member list |
Jason Rees ( talk) 01:29, 5 April 2009 (UTC)
Number 23, June 7
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of April and May 2009.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Cyclone Aila was the second
tropical cyclone to form within the Northern
Indian Ocean during 2009. The disturbance that was to become Cyclone Aila formed on 21 May 2009 about 950 kilometres (590 mi) to the south of
Kolkata, in
India. Over the next couple of days the disturbance slowly developed before a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert was issued by the
Joint Typhoon Warning Center early on 23 May 2009 and being designated as a depression by
RSMC New Delhi. As of 27 May 2009
[update], 330 people have been killed by Aila and at least 8,208 more are missing, while about 1 million are homeless. Health officials in
Bangladesh confirmed a deadly outbreak on diarrhea on 29 May, with more than 7,000 people being infected and four dying. In Bangladesh, an estimated 20 million people were at risk of post-disaster diseases due to Aila. Damage totaled $40.7 million (USD).
Other tropical cyclone activity
Tropical Depression One was the first tropical cyclone to develop during the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season. The depression formed on May 28, out of a disorganized area of low pressure off the coast of North Carolina. However after attaining its peak strength the depression began to weaken due to increasing wind shear and cooling sea surface temperatures with the final advisory being issued on May 29.
Member of the month
The member of the month is Jason Rees, who joined Wikipedia in 2007, and has written nine tropical cyclone GA's. Jason primarily focuses on Southern Hemisphere storms, as well as the Western Pacific. He has plans for featured topics for several seasons, but for now, he is a regular member of the project who adds his input in discussions on the talk page. We thank Jason for his work, and we look forward to more articles!
New members
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Storm article statistics
Grade | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
---|---|---|---|---|
FA | 47 | 49 | 49 | 50 |
A | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 |
GA | 161 | 187 | 198 | 202 |
B | 17 | 13 | 21 | 22 |
C | 107 | 119 | 118 | 122 |
Start | 201 | 204 | 210 | 210 |
Stub | 19 | 19 | 16 | 17 |
Total | 571 | 613 | 631 | 642 |
ω | 2.92 | 2.88 | 2.87 | 2.87 |
percentage ≥Less than C |
38.5 | 36.4 | 35.8 | 35.4 |
percentage ≥GA or better |
39.8 | 42.1 | 42.2 | 42.2 |
Project News
There is debate as usual with regards to notability, as well as the status of the project in general, but nothing new is going on.
During the last week, some editors have organized a page — Wikipedia:WikiProject Tropical cyclones/Viewed stats — that has a listing of monthly page views within the project. It is under construction, although it is complete for all Eastern Pacific tropical cyclones, as well as all Atlantic tropical cyclones from 1979 to the present. Interestingly, the top 6 viewed EPAC articles are all featured, and all of the top 16 in the basin are GA's. Unfortunately, the Atlantic, at least from 1979 to the present, is much worse, despite being viewed much, much more. The top eight-viewed Atlantic articles all are viewed more than 10,000 times per month, for a total of 363889 views per month, but only two of them are featured, and none of the others are GA. As always, any help in the retired storms would be greatly appreciated.
Somewhat tying into the bettering of project articles, the basin article challenge is still ongoing. Hurricanehink is currently in the lead with a GA in 2 basins. Cyclonebiskit is in 2nd, with one GA in the EPAC. The challenge is still open to anyone, and it is not so much a race, rather a challenge just to get a fairly important GA in each basin.
The Hurricane Herald This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary of the WikiProject's progress and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers June 2009. Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
From the editors
In recent months, the project has become increasingly inactive; with only a few active participants, we need your help for the upcoming hurricane season! Feel free to contact Hurricanehink ( talk · contribs), Juliancolton ( talk · contribs), Jason Rees ( talk · contribs), or Cyclonebiskit ( talk · contribs) for more information. Thanks! Storm of the month Tropical Storm Linfa formed out of an area of low pressure on June 14, the storm briefly attained tropical depression status before degenerating. By June 17 the system regenerated in the South China Sea. Slowly tracking northward, the storm intensified, attaining severe tropical storm status on June 19 and peaking in intensity the following day. On June 21, Linfa made landfall in Fujian Province, China as a tropical storm before weakening to a tropical depression. In Taiwan, outer bands of the storm produced significant amounts of rain over southeastern areas of the island. Along the western coast, rip currents resulted in the drowning of one person. Six hikers also were reported to be missing. In China, torrential rains triggered flooding that destroyed 100 homes, killed one person and left six others missing. In all, seven people were killed by Linfa, with another 12 missing, damages in mainland China were estimated at ¥655 million (US$95.8 million) and agricultural losses in Taiwan reached NT$400 million (US$12.1 million). Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month The member of the month is Cool3 ( talk · contribs). Though only a new member, Cool3 has contributed hundreds of sources and hours of research to several articles, two of which are now featured. The project thanks him for his high-quality work. New members In addition, three users re-joined the project after being listed as inactive:
New and improved articles
Main Page content
Article statistics
Project News As of 01:42, 4 July 2009 (UTC), there are three featured article candidates; see the noticeboard for more info. A discussion is ongoing at the project talk page ( link) regarding the naming of unnamed tropical cyclones, such as 1978 January subtropical storm and 1975 Pacific Northwest hurricane. While more descriptive titles often constitute original research, official designations are sometimes ambiguous. Comments are welcome. There is also a discussion on how the project rates its articles on the importance scale. Tropical cyclones at associated Wikimedia projects
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– Juliancolton | Talk 02:11, 4 July 2009 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary of the WikiProject's progress and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers July 2009. Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
From the editors
In recent months, the project has become increasingly inactive; with only a few active participants, we need your help for the upcoming hurricane season! Feel free to contact Juliancolton ( talk · contribs), Jason Rees ( talk · contribs), or Cyclonebiskit ( talk · contribs) for more information. Thanks! Storm of the month Hurricane Carlos was the third named storm of the 2009 Pacific hurricane season. Tropical Depression Four-E formed on July 10, and was quickly upgraded to Tropical Storm Carlos. On July 11, the storm strengthened into a minimal Category 1 hurricane. Following a series of intensity fluctuations, Carlos peaked as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 105 mph (165 km/h). The storm subsequently began to weaken, and on July 16, Carlos degenerated into a remnant low. The cyclone had no known effects on land. Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month The member of the month is Plasticup ( talk · contribs). Plasticup was inactive for most of the winter; however, upon returning this month, he quickly resumed work. Among his recent works are Meteorological history of Hurricane Gustav, a Good Article, and Tropical Storm Gamma (2005), a Good Article nominee. Plasticup was also designated member of the month in July 2008. New members There were no new members in July. However, four users re-joined the project after being listed as inactive:
New and improved articles
Main Page content Hurricane Ioke appeared on the main page in the Today's Featured Article section on July 22. Tropical Storm Dottie (1976) and Tropical Storm Hallie (1975) appeared on the main page in the Did You Know? section on July 13 and July 24, respectively. Article statistics
Project News SchuminWeb ( talk · contribs) pointed out towards the end of the month that hurricane disambiguation pages are often over-categorized. Efforts are currently underway to address this. A discussion is underway at Wikipedia:Featured list candidates/Timeline of the 1987 Atlantic hurricane season/archive1 regarding the use of HURDAT as a reference. Input is appreciated. Tropical cyclones at associated Wikimedia projects
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– Juliancolton | Talk 03:00, 2 August 2009 (UTC)
The Hurricane Herald This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary of the WikiProject's progress and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
From the editors
The project has gone since August without a newsletter, due to a lack of interest in its publication and development. This issue aims to catch up on major events and milestones since late summer 2009, and set a series of goals for the upcoming hurricane seasons. Your help in writing future issues is appreciated. Tropical cyclone activity Typhoons Morakot, Ketsana, and Parma caused extensive damage to China, Taiwan, Philippines, and Vietnam in August and September. Their collective damages total in the billions of dollars and each storm caused hundreds of fatalities. All three of the storms' names were subsequently retired. Member of the month Thegreatdr ( talk · contribs) is thanked for his tireless improvement of high-profile tropical cyclone and general meteorology articles; his production of rainfall maps for individual storms; and for his willingness to share his expertise where needed. Thegreatdr is largely responsible for the project's continued success, and has been instrumental in resolving many debates and discussions. Members New and improved articles Goals for the upcoming season Nonetheless, the project should encourage new editors to get involved; for this purpose the standard Wikipedia:WikiProject Tropical cyclones/Invite template may be used. The project should also make an effort to evaluate existing recognized content. A Project audit of featured articles has been proposed; ideally, each article should be reviewed for continued compliance with the FA criteria. Articles that no longer meet the criteria may be nominated for demotion, or alternatively, improved and updated. Main Page content Article statistics
Project news |
JCbot ( talk) 14:16, 13 April 2010 (UTC)
Number 31, September 10, 2010
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of August 2010.
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
Hurricane Frank is the storm of the Month.
Tropical Depression Nine-E formed on August 21 south of the Gulf of Tehuantepec. It developed into a tropical storm the following morning. On August 23, Frank continued to intensify, but later faced shear and entered a period of weakening. However, on August 24, as shear decreased, it began to reorganize and strengthen again, becoming a hurricane on August 25. Two days later, Frank weakened into a tropical storm. Rapidly weakening overnight, NHC issued that it have been degraded into an remnant low. The area of low pressure associated with Frank was absorbed with another area of disturbed weather which later developed into Tropical Depression Ten-E.
Throughout Central America, Hurricane Frank produced torrential rain that resulted in at least 30 fatalities, most of which took place in Nicaragua and Honduras. In Guatemala alone, damage from the system was estimated to be up to $500 million. In Mexico, six deaths were reported. A total 30 homes were destroyed with 26 others damaged. Two major roads were damaged with another road blocked due to a landslides. Several rivers overflowed their banks as well. Losses from the storms totaled millions of dollars. Water Currents form a nearby volcano were damaged as well.
Other tropical cyclone activity
Member of the month
The October member of the month is CrazyC83. Since joining the project near its inception, CrazyC83 has been involved in bringing twenty two articles to Good Article status and one article to Featured Article Status. Not only this, he is been working with the [[2010 Atlantic hurricane season 24/7. Our Favorite member Jason Rees looks like he has gone on a short break with the west, but he still continues with the east.
New members
New and improved articles
Storm Basics
Storm article statistics
Tropical cyclone articles by quality and importance | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quality | Importance | ||||||
Top | High | Mid | Low | NA | ??? | Total | |
FA | 3 | 14 | 82 | 60 | 159 | ||
FL | 1 | 4 | 30 | 42 | 77 | ||
FM | 21 | 21 | |||||
A | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||
GA | 10 | 63 | 406 | 661 | 1,140 | ||
B | 9 | 33 | 61 | 61 | 164 | ||
C | 12 | 91 | 249 | 268 | 620 | ||
Start | 2 | 62 | 346 | 419 | 3 | 832 | |
Stub | 6 | 72 | 93 | 171 | |||
List | 2 | 12 | 59 | 577 | 413 | 1,063 | |
Category | 952 | 952 | |||||
Disambig | 2 | 11 | 55 | 68 | |||
File | 7 | 1 | 8 | ||||
Portal | 2 | 202 | 204 | ||||
Project | 98 | 98 | |||||
Redirect | 2 | 9 | 45 | 93 | 149 | ||
Template | 1 | 6 | 27 | 438 | 472 | ||
NA | 1 | 1 | |||||
Other | 1 | 1 | |||||
Assessed | 40 | 279 | 1,276 | 1,753 | 2,439 | 416 | 6,203 |
Unassessed | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
Total | 40 | 280 | 1,276 | 1,754 | 2,441 | 418 | 6,209 |
WikiWork factors ( ?) | ω = 10,441 | Ω = 3.38 |
Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Tropical cyclone storm articles by quality statistics
Tropical cyclone season pages by quality | |
---|---|
Quality | |
Total | |
Assessed | 0 |
Total | 0 |
Project News
The Newsletter has been properly restarted by
Anirudh Emani.
Editorial Member Award
This month the editorial member award has been disputed to
CrazyC83 &
Jason Rees. CrazyC83 has been working mainly with the
2010 Atlantic hurricane season while Jason Rees is working with the
2010 Pacific typhoon season. Jason has also created sandboxes for western Pacific Typhoons and North Indian ocean cyclones,
Rashmi and
Dianmu are a few good examples of this work.
Anirudh Emani (
talk)
08:35, 10 September 2010 (UTC)
Former Featured Articles
Former Featured Pictures
Anirudh Emani ( talk) 11:06, 13 September 2010 (UTC)
Number 32B, October 20, 2010
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all project related events of September 2010 and some events of October 2010
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve monitoring of the WikiProject's articles.
Storm of the month
'
Typhoon Fanapi' is Storm of the Month
Early on September 14, the JMA reported that a tropical depression had formed east of Taiwan. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center soon designated the depression as 12W with PAGASA naming it Inday shortly thereafter. Later on the same day, the tropical depression was upgraded to a tropical storm and was officially given the name Fanapi by the JMA. On September 16, the storm further intensified into a severe tropical storm. That same day, the JMA further upgraded it into a typhoon. Fanapi turned west and intensified into a category 1 typhoon that night. On the following day, the storm further intensified into a category 2 typhoon. On September 18, the storm further intensified to a Category 3 typhoon and moved straight into Taiwan. It made landfall in Hualien County at 8:40 a.m. (10.40am AEST) on September 19, with winds of 162 kilometres (101 mi) and across the island at a speed of 20km/h. Shortly after its landfall, it moved south and again turned east and rapidly weakened into a Severe Tropical Storm. It had a Category 1 equivalent strength at that time. At 06:00 PM (Local time), the typhoon went back into the ocean. Post Storm Analysis proved that the system stayed on land for 9 hours approximately. The storm made its second landfall at Zhangpu County, Zhangzhou, Fujian province, China, at a Category 1 Typhoon intensity. The Storm caused a large scale damage to Taiwan. In the early hours of September 21, Fanapi weakened into a tropical depression over Guangdong province, China. On Septemner 22, Fanapi dissipated completely.
Other tropical cyclone activity
New members
Articles Requiring Help
Main and Important Articles
Member of the month
Jason Rees is the member of the month - October 2010
To do
Storm article statistics
Tropical cyclone articles by quality and importance | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quality | Importance | ||||||
Top | High | Mid | Low | Other | ??? | Total | |
FA | 6 | 12 | 64 | 66 | 148 | ||
A | 1 | 1 | 9 | 16 | 27 | ||
GA | 8 | 22 | 126 | 259 | 415 | ||
B | 3 | 6 | 21 | 23 | 53 | ||
C | 5 | 23 | 87 | 97 | 212 | ||
Start | 5 | 58 | 232 | 239 | 4 | 538 | |
Stub | 1 | 17 | 94 | 59 | 171 | ||
Current | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 | |||
Future | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
Category | 524 | 1 | 525 | ||||
Disambig | 7 | 581 | 588 | ||||
Template | 167 | 1 | 168 | ||||
Assessed | 29 | 141 | 637 | 770 | 1,294 | 27 | 2,898 |
Unassessed | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
Total | 29 | 141 | 637 | 771 | 1,294 | 29 | 2,901 |
Project News
Volume XIV, Issue 38, August 1, 2019 The Hurricane Herald is the arbitrarily periodical newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006; it has been almost thirteen years since that time. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the mailing list. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from June 1–July 31, 2019. This edition's editor and author is ♫ Hurricanehink ( talk) . Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions can be viewed here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Storm of the month and other tropical activity
Hurricane Barry was the
wettest tropical storm on record in Arkansas, and one of only four hurricanes to strike Louisiana in July. Originating from a
trough over the southeastern United States, Barry formed on July 11 off the southeast Louisiana coast. Despite wind shear and an asymmetrical structure, the storm intensified into a minimal hurricane before making
landfall near
Intracoastal City, Louisiana. Barry dropped heavy rainfall from the Gulf of Mexico to the Ohio Valley, peaking at 23.43 in (595 mm) near
Ragley, Louisiana. The storm caused flooding rains, power outages, and one death due to rip currents. Damage totaled over US$500 million.
Member of the month (edition) – TheAustinMan TheAustinMan has been involved with WPTC since 2009. Since the last newsletter, TheAustinMan worked on the Storm of the Month (Barry), as well as 1915 Galveston hurricane, Typhoon Alice (1979), 1937 Atlantic hurricane season, 1944 Jamaica hurricane, and the 1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane. A prolific editor, TheAustinMan has contributed to three featured articles and 46 good articles. Thank you for your contributions! New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter in June/July 2019 More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue in May 2019. Sorted chronologically. Struckout users denote users who have left or have been banned.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions! Current assessment table Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See
here for the latest, most up to date statistics.
Sourcing guidelines, by TheAustinMan The core content policies on Wikipedia ( neutral point of view, no original research, and verifiability) all apply to articles tagged by WikiProject Tropical cyclones. The project's style guidelines also provide information on how to cite sources effectively. Relevant guidelines discussing the WikiProject's tropical meteorology articles may also be found at WP:SCICITE and WP:SCIRS. Reports, bulletins, and other products issued by Regional Specialized Meteorological Centers are the authoritative source on meteorological information pertaining to tropical cyclones in their respective basins. This includes both quantitative and qualitative information about a storm's characteristics, including intensities, durations, and locations. The most recent post-storm assessments take precedence over operational data. Thus, post-season revisions to a storm's "best track" file, new information presented in a tropical cyclone report, or official database adjustments made by the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project, or other official reanalyses supersede operational information where they disagree. Data in operational RSMC products can still be used if later data does not dispute them. Information from other public agencies can also be used, but generally require in-text attribution. While the original best track data from meteorological agencies is a reliable source and can be referenced, readers often find difficulty interpreting them. Consider using IBTrACS, a more easily understandable track database, which is endorsed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), for this information. Because the Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecasting System (ATCF) used by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center and National Hurricane Center is liable to change frequently in realtime, they should not be used for currently active storms. Forecasts from these agencies and RSMCs should only be used to cite the forecasts themselves; in other words, they can only be used to describe what was expected to occur, and never to describe what did occur. Maps and other graphics published by meteorological agencies may be used to describe events (see the associated essay). However, they should only be referenced if they are explicit in conveying the supported information and do not require any rigorous meteorological interpretation (such as satellite analysis or drawing conclusions over what the arrangement of meteorological features represents). In general, self-published sources should not be used as sources for present or historical storm intensities. However, information contained in articles from reliable sources or commentary from established tropical cyclone experts can be used as sources for information not covered by WMO-endorsed agencies. If such sources dispute WMO-endorsed meteorological data, commentary on the disputed information may be used, making sure to attribute claims and giving due weight. Storm effects are typically referenced with a wide array of published sources. These may include news organizations, risk assessment organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGO), government agencies, and impact databases. So long as they are reliable sources, they can be used as references for tropical cyclone impacts. Note that figures from early impact reports, often disseminated by the first NGO situation reports and news reports, may quickly be outdated in light of newer information. When sourcing damage totals or casualty figures, use the most recent value from a reliable source, as these values tend to be more stable and use more up-to-date information. If such figures are disputed by other reliable sources, this should be noted in the article, making sure to attribute claims and giving due weight. Routine calculations of damage and casualty figures (for instance, adding casualties from different countries) are acceptable as long as they arise from reliable sources. Latest WikiProject Alerts The following are the latest article developments as updated by AAlertBot, as of the publishing of this issue. Due to the bot workings, some of these updates may seem out of place; nonetheless, they are included here. Today's featured article requests
Featured article candidates
Featured list candidates
Good article nominees
Good article reassessments
Requested moves
Articles to be merged
Updated daily by
AAlertBot —
Discuss? /
Report bug? /
Request feature?
Click to watch (Subscribe via RSS Atom) · Find Article Alerts for other topics! From the Main Page From the Main Page documents WikiProject related materials that have appeared on the main page from April 14–May 31, 2019 in chronological order.
History of WikiProject Tropical cyclones The article for hurricane ( tropical cyclone) was created on December 2, 2001. On October 3, 2002, User:Ed Poor created an article for Hurricane Lili while the storm was active and near peak intensity; since then, 163 other people have edited the article to help make it a . In March 2004, User:BigT27 created an article for the hyperactive 1995 Atlantic hurricane season, then the 3rd most-active Atlantic hurricane season on record. On August 14 of that year, an article was created for Hurricane Iniki, the first non-Atlantic storm, and on August 31, the 1900 Galveston hurricane became the first TC-related . On October 4, 2004, Cyclone Tracy became featured, which was the 2nd FA in the project. A week later, User:Golbez created the article for 2004 Pacific hurricane season, which was the first season article for the EPAC. On May 19, 2005, User:Tom created Template:Infobox Hurricane, which standardized the infobox that appears in every storm article. On July 20, User:Skywayman created the article for the 2005 Pacific typhoon season, which became the third basin to get season articles. On July 31, User:Holderca1 created the article for 2004-05 Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone season – for the first several years on Wikipedia, the SHEM was handled in a singular article, but was split into SWIO, AUS, and SPAC beginning on April 16, 2007, and finished on April 21, 2013. During the hyperactive 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, articles were created quickly for the most powerful storms, including Hurricane Dennis which quickly became an FA. On August 26, 2005, User:CrazyC83 created an article for Hurricane Katrina after the legendary storm crossed over southern Florida. By two days later, there were 500 edits to the article, and the hurricane was threatening to hit New Orleans as a Category 4 or 5. We now know it was “only” a Category 3 at landfall. In the 14 years since Katrina, there have been 6,327 editors to the Hurricane Katrina article, along with 23 sub-articles. During the 2005 season, there were debates among editors whether lesser notable storms, like Hurricane Cindy (2005), should have articles. At one point in 2006, there were articles for every named storm during the 2005 AHS, but in the 13 years since then, articles for tropical storms Franklin, Harvey, and Lee, and Philippe were created and merged. As a way to coordinate edits among the tropical cyclone pages, User:Jdorje created Template:Hurricane on September 12, 2005. This is the same template that appears on the talk pages for every article in the WPTC. On October 5, Jdorje officially created WP:WPTC, the tropical cyclone WikiProject. That October, in quick succession, the Atlantic hurricane seasons reached back to the beginning of recordkeeping (before 1600s) due to a collaboration of several editors; User:RattleMan created the first season article for the North Indian Ocean; User:Miss Madeline successfully nominated List of California hurricanes for featured list; and Jdorje created a a standardized storm path template. In 2006, a series of users improved articles worldwide to featured article status. Professional met David Roth joined the project, and in the same year, the NOAA and NHC copied some material from Wikipedia, including track maps, and the Tropical Cyclone Report for Tropical Storm Chris (2006). In June 2006, User:Nilfanion created the project assessment page, which documents the status of every article, organized by basin, the year, and storm shaded by the quality. On August 1, the chat room on IRC for the project was created, which allowed real-time communication among editors. There’s something special about conversing with fellow weather geeks during an epic storm, which seems to have become all the more common. On January 1, 2007, the number of good articles in the project reached 100. On January 29th, a collaboration of users made the List of retired Pacific hurricane names the first featured topic in the project. It was joined by the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season in March 2007. In 2008, further collaborations helped make the article for tropical cyclone a featured article, one of 100 FA’s in the project. Notably among project members, Tropical Storm Erick (2007) became featured on December 14, 2008. The storm lasted for a short amount of time over open waters, and as such, it was the shortest featured article anywhere on Wikipedia. Users questioned whether the storm was notable enough to have such a detailed article, but the article described the storm in articulate detail. After an AFD and two featured article review (and a series of low-notability storms being merged), Erick was delisted as a featured article on March 2, 2013. In the period from 2008 to 2013, users created task forces for various basins, articles for all of the seasons in the Atlantic and EPAC, and enough high-quality articles that more than half of all storm/season articles were good or featured articles. In January 2008, there were 1000 articles in the entire project. On January 1, 2014, User:Yellow Evan created Typhoon Nancy (1982), which was the 2000th article in the project. In October 2008, there were 100 FA’s in the project, which reached 200 on November 28, 2015, with Hurricane Fay (2014). By March 2016, every basin had at least 100 storm articles, multiple featured articles, and season articles of various quality.
This section lists content that have become featured, articles and lists, since the past newsletter in mid-April 2019.
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments
New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include: WikiProject To-Do Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
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Volume XIV, Issue 39, March 17, 2020 The Hurricane Herald: Special
St. Patrick's Day and
COVID-19 edition!
The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006; it has been almost thirteen years since that time. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the mailing list. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from August 1, 2019–March 17, 2020. This edition's editor and author is ♫ Hurricanehink ( talk). Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions can be viewed here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments
New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include:
The 1988 and 2015 Pacific seasons are now good topics. Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue in May 2019. Sorted chronologically. Struckout users denote users who have left or have been banned.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions! Latest WikiProject Alerts The following are the latest article developments as updated by AAlertBot, as of the publishing of this issue. Due to the bot workings, some of these updates may seem out of place; nonetheless, they are included here. Today's featured article requests
Featured article candidates
Featured list candidates
Good article nominees
Good article reassessments
Requested moves
Articles to be merged
Updated daily by
AAlertBot —
Discuss? /
Report bug? /
Request feature?
Click to watch (Subscribe via RSS Atom) · Find Article Alerts for other topics! Storm of the month and other tropical activity for August
Typhoon Lekima became China's costliest typhoon ever recorded when it struck the country in early August, leaving 90 fatalities and over $9 billion in damage.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for September
Hurricane Dorian was the strongest hurricane on record to strike The Bahamas, and was regarded as the worst natural disaster in the country's history. Dorian formed on August 24, and moved through the Caribbean as an intensifying storm. On September 1, Dorian hit
Great Abaco Island with sustained winds of 185 mph (295 km/h), and struck
Grand Bahama Island at the same intensity a day later. Dorian killed 58 people and left $7 billion in damage to the island nation. The hurricane later struck North Carolina as a minimal hurricane, and Nova Scotia as a post-tropical cyclone.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for October Typhoon Hagibis was considered the most devastating typhoon to hit the Kantō region of Japan since Ida in 1958. It struck near Tokyo on October 12, triggering heavy rainfall and landslides. Hagibis killed 95 people along its path and left about US$9 billion in damage.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for November Cyclone Bulbul formed in the Bay of Bengal from the remnants of Tropical Storm Matmo, which struck Vietnam in late October. Bulbul intensified into the record-breaking sixth very intense tropical cyclone (the NIO equivalent to a hurricane). On November 9, Bulbul made landfall near the India/Bangladesh border, killing 38 people and leaving US$2.6 billion in damage.
Member of the month (edition) – ChocolateTrain ChocolateTrain first joined Wikipedia in April 2017. An Australian native, he is already a prolific writer on the Australian basin, and is responsible for half the edits to the current Australian cyclone season. ChocolateTrain wrote good articles on Cyclone Lili (2019) and Cyclone Nora, plus several articles that are C-class. We thank ChocolateTrain for his edits, and hopes he keeps writing about southern hemisphere storms! From the Main Page documents WikiProject related materials that have appeared on the main page from August 1, 2019–March 17, 2020 in chronological order.
From August 1, 2019–March 17, 2020, one featured list and three featured articles were promoted: Current assessment table Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See
here for the latest, most up to date statistics.
There is a discussion about getting rid of redirect and list-class articles. WikiProject To-Do Collaborating - AKA the right kind of sharing, by
User:Hurricanehink There are other kinds of collaborations. Recently, users Juliancolton and TropicalAnalystwx13 wrote Tropical Storm Kirk (2018) together. Each year, the season articles are written by many editors, by folks who add the latest satellite imagery or track. There are others who document the storm's journey, and what impacts they left. When a major storm is threatening a landmass (especially the United States), users edit from IP addresses far and wide to add the latest information. Unfortunately, some of these big storm articles languish, because they're written in real time without historical perspective, and the websites might no longer be up and running a few years later. Don't get me wrong, I know the excitement of being the first to write on Wikipedia when the NHC classifies something. However, there are lots of older articles that end up half-finished, or with broken weblinks. Thankfully we have the web archive. We see the disruption that Covid-19 is causing in our world right now. Yea, it sucks to have everything canceled, for schools and bars and gyms and restaurants to be shut down. Some people experience that same feeling every few years when a hurricane/typhoon/cyclone strikes. It's easy writing/researching about these furious beasts of nature when we're in the comfort of our own home/office/library/school. And sometimes it's uncomfortable seeing how we rebuild. After every storm, there is help, often from the government. Politics have made my country turn fearful and hateful, and so I have to choose my words carefully. When nature is at its worst, my government is there after when people need it the most, providing financial assistance, logistical support, and a sense of national unity. This pandemic is making a lot of people fearful of the unknown, how bad that unstoppable force will be. A lot of us may be stuck at home right now with a sense of fear and too much time on our hands. Consider, then, the spirit of collaboration, working together to document the world around us. If you're reading this, you are likely interested in meteorology. Go improve an article then. Now. Do it. :P Stop reading this and find an article you're interested in, and make it better. <3
Tropical cyclones by year The storms in 2019 represent about 0.116% of the known tropical cyclones on Wikipedia. We're aware of around 12,000 tropical cyclones; about one-third were in the Western Pacific, where storms have killed more than 1.4 million people. Storms in the western Pacific date back to the year 957, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. In the Atlantic, we know of 2,443 tropical cyclones, dating back to 1494, and Christopher Columbus's 2nd voyage to the New World; however, paleotempestological evidence] of storms date back to 1330 BC. In the eastern Pacific, storms date back to 1537, when a hurricane struck Mexico and was recorded by a missionary. Storms in the South Pacific Ocean date back to 1568, and in the South Indian Ocean to 1615. Wikipedia coverage in the North Indian Ocean goes back to 1721. Storm of the month and other tropical activity for December Cyclone Ambali was the first very intense tropical cyclone in the South-west Indian Ocean since Cyclone Fantala in 2016. It formed on December 3 as part of a series of storms in the western Indian Ocean in both hemispheres. Ambali's winds increased by 185 km/h (115 mph) in 24 hours, marking the fastest 24-hour intensification recorded in the Southern Hemisphere. The storm rapidly weakened after its peak, degenerating into a remnant low by December 8.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for January Cyclone Tino was part of a broader convergence zone that affected ten South Pacific countries. Tino formed on January 11, and passed near Fiji on January 17 with winds of 120 km/h (75 mph), where two people were left missing. Tino became extratropical two days later.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for February Cyclone Damien struck Western Australia near Karratha on February 8, having originated from a monsoon trough five days later. Damien caused localized flooding and power outages.
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Volume XL, Issue 40, May 1, 2020 The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the mailing list. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from March 17 to April 30, 2020. This edition's editor and author is Hurricanehink. Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions can be viewed here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments
New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include:
WikiProject To-Do
Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for March
Cyclone Herold (not to be confused with April's storm of the month) was an intense tropical cyclone in the southwest Indian Ocean. It formed near northeastern Madagascar, where its flooding killed five people. Herold later passed between the islands of
Mauritius and
Rodrigues before becoming extratropical.
Member of the month (edition) – TropicalAnalystwx13 TropicalAnalystwx13 first joined Wikipedia in September 2010. A long-time writer, TropicalAnalystwx13 (or TAWX13) is a prolific writer about tropical cyclones and tornadoes. Since the last newsletter, he worked on Hurricane Humberto (2019), now a featured article, as well as good articles for Tropical Storm Olga (2019), 1938 Atlantic hurricane season, and 1934 Atlantic hurricane season. We thank TropicalAnalystwx13 for his many edits, and hope he keeps up the good work! New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue. Sorted chronologically.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions!
From March 17 to present, five featured articles were promoted:
There are currently three featured article candidates: From the Main Page documents WikiProject related materials that have appeared on the main page from March 17–April 30, 2020 in chronological order.
Storms around the world, by
Jason Rees We have had some early success with this goal with information from Category 5 South Pacific severe tropical cyclones being used by a Facebook page after Cyclone Harold. However, we need help developing these articles since there are approximately 150 countries impacted by tropical cyclones and there are approximately 15 tropical cyclones off all intensities per basin per year. You can help by finding resources for us to use, going through IBTRACS and the various databases published by the warning centres or even helping to expand the various articles. ''Opinion piece - , by
Chicdat As a reader: I first became interested in hurricanes when the buzz on
Hurricane Dorian making landfall in
the Bahamas came out at the end of August 2019. I was interested to know more about Dorian, but not too much. I went onto the solution page:
2019 Atlantic hurricane season, one of the first pages I saw on Wikipedia (that's where I got my signature, 🐔
Chic
dat
Chicken
Database, the Chicken links to 2019 AHS). As hurricane season continued, I "experienced" every single storm from Dorian to Sebastien. After hurricane season in the Atlantic ended, I turned my eyes to the
Southern Hemisphere. By the beginning of 2020, I was even delving into
FAs,
GAs, and
stubs. Current assessment table Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See
here for the latest, most up to date statistics.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for April
Cyclone Harold was a Category 5 storm on both the Saffir-Simpson and the Australian scale. The storm formed near the
Solomon Islands on April 1, where high waves drowned 27 people on the MV Taimareho ferry. Near peak intensity, Harold struck the South Pacific island nation of
Vanuatu, causing widespread damage and disruptions amid the ongoing pandemic, as well as two deaths. Harold later passed south of the main island of
Fiji, resulting in power outages and one fatality. The storm subsequently passed just south of
Tonga, causing power outages and high tides.
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The Hurricane Herald: Special Hurricane Season/New SHEM Cyclone Year Edition!
The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the mailing list. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from May 1–July 1, 2020. This edition's editors and authors are Chicdat and Hurricanehink. Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions can be viewed here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments NEWS New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include: WikiProject To-Do Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
2018 Featured Topic Hurricane Noah recently announced an initiative to get a featured topic for the year of 2018 with complete subtopics. The Eastern Pacific portion is very close to achieving a featured topic, and the Atlantic and North Indian Ocean are around a B-class average. The Western Pacific, Southern Hemisphere, and the global article for 2018 need your help! A lot of work is needed to get those three items up to par. For more information on which articles need specifically, please check out the project talk page. Getting a featured topic for an entire year would be an impressive feat for our project.
I want to invite you all to sing Auld Lang Syne with me and open up the egg nog with me as today July 1, 2020, marks the formal start of the 2020-21 tropical cyclone year, as well as the start of the season in the South-West Indian Ocean. As a result, it is a good chance to look back at the previous TC year and look forward to the season starting on November 1. As things stand, it appears that the status of the El Nino Southern Oscillation will either be La Nina or neutral conditions leaning towards La Nina. As a result, I would expect more activity to occur within the Coral Sea, near Queensland rather than out towards French Polynesia. On a social basis, the biggest question this year will be how will the island nations deal will Covid 19 and a major tropical cyclone - assuming it's still around in November. We got an early taster of how Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga will deal with it thanks Severe Tropical Cyclone Harold.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for May Cyclone Amphan was the second Category 5-equivalent tropical cyclone of 2020, and the first tropical cyclone of the 2020 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. It formed in the southern Bay of Bengal, and made landfall on Odisha and Bangladesh, killing 128 people. It was a very strong super cyclonic storm. It was also the costliest North Indian Ocean tropical cyclone in recorded history, shattering the record held by Cyclone Nargis, after it left US$13.6 billion in damage.
Member of the month (edition) – KN2731 KN2731 first joined Wikipedia in 2015, and has contributed to/written 13 good articles in the project. Recently, he has contributed to the project-wide goal of improving tropical cyclones in 2018 to a featured topic, including tropical storms Sanba, Bolaven, and Ewiniar, plus Typhoon Maria. KN2731 has also worked in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific, and contributed to two featured lists – Timeline of the 2015 Pacific hurricane season and List of Category 3 Pacific hurricanes. We thank KN2731 for his many edits, and hope he keeps up the good work! New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue. Sorted chronologically.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions!
From May 1 to present, two featured articles were promoted: From the Main Page documents WikiProject related materials that have appeared on the main page from May 1–June 30, 2020 in chronological order. There are currently two featured article canidates: OPINION PIECE, by Chicdat When a new storm undergoes rapid intensification and makes landfall, the members of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones try hard to create an article for it. Suddenly, the storm goes back out to sea again and makes landfall somewhere different. In one 20-kilobyte edit, Hurricaneboy23, let's say, adds in more information about this landfall, but not before the storm undergoes a cyclonic loop and makes a third landfall. As the article gets huge and bloated, it's split. The story above is fictional, but things like it happen often, like in Cyclone Amphan's revision history. For Wikipedia to have an accurate coverage of tropical cyclones, there need to be enough members to put the new information — boosted by reliable sources, of course — into the article. So, if you haven't already, go to WP:WPTC/MEMBER and add your name! 🐔 Chic dat Chicken Database Burnout - an opinion piece by ♫
Hurricanehink (
talk) When you edit for too long, you might find that you can't finish that list of projects you wanted to work on. It is better to take a break from what you were working on, and try something different (maybe not even weather-related) so that editing becomes enjoyable again. There's no sense getting burned out and stressed. The work will eventually get done on Wikipedia. Some projects are in much worse shape, but improving slowly but surely. The WPTC has a leg up on other projects because we have such a passionate group of editors and writers. It's better for the long run to take a break, focus on RL, get some sun, have a laugh, and do whatever you can to stay sane these days. Current assessment table Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See
here for the latest, most up to date statistics.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for June Tropical Storm Cristobal formed on June 1 in the Bay of Campeche from the remnants of Amanda in the eastern Pacific. Cristobal looped over the Yucatán peninsula before progressing northward, striking Louisiana on June 7, marking the second-earliest landfall on record in the state. The system moved through the central United States, eventually becoming extratropical over Wisconsin. Cristobal killed four people and left US$343 million in damage.
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The Hurricane Herald: 15th Anniversary Edition!
The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the mailing list. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from September 1–October 5, 2020, which is the 15th anniversary of the WPTC. This edition's editors and authors are ChessEric, Chicdat, Destroyeraa, Hurricanehink, and our member of the month, SMB99thx! Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions can be viewed here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments
New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include: WikiProject To-Do
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for September (and the first 5 days of October) Ianos, was a Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone, also known as a Medicane. The Mediterranean isn't officially a tropical cyclone basin, so there aren't any official intensity estimates for the storm. The system originated from a low pressure area north of Libya, and it developed organized convection while moving northeastward. On September 18, Ianos struck the Greek island of Cephalonia, and later moved across the Greek mainland. The World Meteorological Organization mentioned the medicane and its similarities to tropical cyclones. Although these medicanes are unofficial, Wikipedia covers them like other tropical cyclones, using the same reliable sources and news articles to document the event. As Ianos was created, not many users edited it, as coverage of tropical cyclones and storms outside of main development regions are, unfortunately, low. However, as Ianos was nominated and posted at ITN, a current news section on the main page, many users outside of the TC WikiProject began working on it, As these storms are becoming more common and better documented, these storms may be officially classified in the future.
Member of the month (edition) – SMB99thx SMB99thx first joined Wikipedia in 2013, but didn't officially join the WPTC until August 2020. Since then, they have been a prolific contributor, helping with less visible pages such as project talk pages, or splitting older season articles in the North Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific. They are a such a tireless contributor and kind user, who appreciates others' contributions while being humble about their own. It was SMB99thx who gave barnstars along with kind and encouraging messages to countless other WPTC contributors and Wikipedians. SMB99thx also worked on several lists, including area affects lists, various drafts, and List of named storms (T). We'll take that T and say TY to SMB99thx for all of their contributions, and wish them luck at college. New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue. Sorted chronologically.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions!
From September 1 to October 5, one featured article was promoted: From the Main Page documents WikiProject related materials that have appeared on the main page from September 1–October 5, 2020 in chronological order. There is currently one featured article candidate: How WikiProject Tropical cyclones should move forward by SMB99thx As we have seen in the month of August and September, there is a surge of new articles. Most of these new articles are season/decade articles and Pacific typhoon articles, and most of these articles are assessed by me as either Start-class or Stub-class. These articles I believe would have been rejected by WikiProject Tropical cyclones in the earlier years (especially 2008-2012) - and these reflected the changes in WikiProject Tropical cyclones after I joined in July 2020. In order to counteract that surge of Start-class and Stub-class articles in recent months, I have been closely working on the Article requests page (used to be a primary contributor of the surge that happened in August and September), trying to make this recently-extended WikiProject 15th anniversary as some serious effort as well as revamping WikiProject To-Do (and completing some, but not all tasks) - and the results of my work on these three projects led into the explosive growth of the WikiProject Tropical cyclones draftspace (I tried to prevent this by publishing the half-finished drafts into mainspace (which is primarily composed of C-class with some speck of Start-class articles coming out of it, and these are the ones that aren't as obviously unfinished like Draft:Effects of Hurricane Dorian on the Mainland United States), and made several drafts on articles that are not considered notable like Draft:Hurricane Barbara (2019) into redirects or deleted, but there is less kinds of these drafts now) as well as discovery of several drafts that isn't done by this point or are not listed as part of WikiProject Tropical cyclones. These drafts are later linked to the Article requests page. I don't my work is done yet, and in order to consider that effectively done, I need to get these drafts done and submitted as C-class or higher. However, there is a personal problem I had to face in order to getting this work done when I'm still new to WikiProject Tropical cyclones. Article creation from drafts are not my strength. I create articles mostly from splits, not from drafts. As such, I consider article creation from drafts to be personally tedious work. As our 15th anniversary gets near, it appears that things are changing. As the draft space exploded, it appears fellow WikiProject Tropical cyclones are helping me out in getting these drafts complete, especially Destroyeraa (helping me out in deciding which drafts can pass the cut), ChessEric (working on Draft:Tropical Storm Noul (2020)), Robloxsupersuperhappyface (for developing current events articles, alongside ChessEric), I like hurricanes (Tropical cyclone lists), Chicdat (for the work on Tropical cyclones in 2002 and will probably work on others), Janm 7 (for working on Tropical cyclones in 2011 and 2003), and Iseriously (for useful season summaries, and this isn't a WPTC member!). I also began to frequently give out barnstars to these hard-working people like Jason Rees and Hurricanehink. These events led me to believe that, if this WikiProject has to move forward then in my opinion this WikiProject should:
Thanks for reading this opinion piece! And happy 15th anniversary, WikiProject Tropical cyclones! OPINION PIECE - by ChessEric Accuracy has always been one of my biggest sticking points when it comes to editing on Wikipedia. When I came here back in April, my first edit was a revert of misinformation on the 2020 Easter tornado outbreak article. Of course, I understand that as a relatively new user, I still have a lot to learn and I don't profess to know everything, even after I started several large projects that I will probably be working on for quite some time. My first tornado outbreak pages used only the Tornado History Projects which, while generally good for tornado tracks, provides no damage info and if weren't for editors like CapeVerdeWave and Halls4521, my "breakthrough" articles would be so incomplete. However, I've been able to research more and more and find ways to complete these articles and that has carried over into the tropical cyclone projects as well. My thing has always been is that If I can't find a source for it, then it's not true. I will continue to follow that motto and hope that others will do the same. Current assessment table Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See
here for the latest, most up to date statistics.
Comparison of 2005 and 2020 WikiProject Tropical cyclones was founded on October 5, 2005. By that time, Wikipedia had its small share of articles, including the four deadly hurricanes that hit the United States in 2004. The hyperactive 2005 Atlantic hurricane season featured a series of deadly and historic hurricanes, the first of which was Hurricane Dennis. This is how the article looked on 10/5/05. It might not look like much, considering how much larger storm articles tend to be today. However, Dennis quickly became a featured article by February 2006. Its quality showed a marked improvement from the 2004 hurricanes. For comparison, here is what Hurricane Charley looked like on 10/5/05, with barely any references, no preparations, no aftermath, and one sentence worth of impact for a location with $1 billion in damage. The busy 2005 season featured Hurricane Katrina, and in the aftermath of the storm, dozens of articles related to the hurricane were created. Some still exist, such as Katrina refrigerator, Memorial Medical Center and Hurricane Katrina, and Effect of Hurricane Katrina on the Louisiana Superdome. I don't know if those hyper-specific articles would be created today, and many of these old articles are still of low quality. On the other hand, one of the most notable changes since 2005 is the improvement in articles throughout Wikipedia, both new and old. Every Atlantic season from 1945 to 2019 is a good article, and all but 31 seasons since 1851 are a good article. More impressive is how much other basins around the world have improved. As of June 2006 ( the oldest date for our assessment tables), the EPAC only had articles back to 1970, WPAC with yearly articles back to 1945 (with a rump article for everything beforehand - there are now decade articles going back to 1850), and the NIO only had one yearly season article (with five-yearly articles going back to 1980, and one rump article for everything beforehand), with only six storm articles. There are now yearly NIO articles going back to 1960. Also as of June 2006, all SHEM storms were put into yearly articles going back to 1995, with three five-yearly articles going back to 1980, and then one article for everything beforehand. The SHEM is now split into its three sub-basins (plus a distinct article for SATL storms), with yearly articles back to 1970. There are also now yearly articles for tropical cyclones back to 2009. 15 years might not feel like much, or for some of you it's an entire lifetime. Users should be reminded of eventualism, in work will improve over time, especially with sustained editor attention. There are now over 2,000 articles in the project, versus less than 500 15 years ago, or 1000 10 years ago, or 1500 13 years ago. The project's growth hasn't always been even, but it has trended toward inclusion, with hundreds of articles that are the best resources available anywhere on a given storm/season/topic. As Mother Nature throws us hyperactive seasons, it will be difficult, but not impossible, to keep up with the annual cycle of tropical cyclone activity, so the world can remain informed of these swirling furies. Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
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The Hurricane Herald: Happy
Thanksgiving Edition!
The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the mailing list. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from October 5–November 30, 2020. This edition's editors and authors are SMB99thx, Weatherman27, Chicdat, Hurricanehink, Cyclone Toby, Typhoon2013, and ChessEric. Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions can be viewed here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include:
From October 5 to November 30, two featured articles were promoted: From the Main Page documents WikiProject related materials that have appeared on the main page from October 5–November 30, 2020 in chronological order. There is currently one featured article candidate: WikiProject To-Do
Current assessment table Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See
here for the latest, most up to date statistics.
Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
Storms of the month and other tropical activity for October and November SotM for October:
Typhoon Goni / Rolly SotM for November:
Hurricane Iota
The active Atlantic hurricane season continued. In early October, Tropical Storm Gamma dissipated over the northern Yucatan and was absorbed by powerful Hurricane Delta, which was the season's third major hurricane. Delta weakened before hitting Quintana Roo, but restrengthened in the Gulf of Mexico, later hitting Louisiana as a low-end Category 2 hurricane in nearly the same location as Hurricane Laura in August. Delta killed six people and left US$4 billion in damage. A few days later, Hurricane Epsilon developed southeast of Bermuda, becoming a major hurricane and brushing the island to the east. Hurricane Zeta followed a similar path as Delta, striking Quintana Roo and later striking southeastern Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane; it killed 8 people and left U$3 billion in damage. At the end of the month, Hurricane Eta developed, becoming a strong Category 4 hurricane before striking Nicaragua. After killing hundreds of people in Central America, Eta reformed in the northwestern Caribbean. It made another landfall in Cuba, moved over the Florida Keys, and briefly became a hurricane again in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, before weakening and striking Cedar Key, Florida as a tropical storm. In early November, Tropical Storm Theta developed from a non-tropical low and moved across the eastern Atlantic.
Member of the month (edition) – Robloxsupersuperhappyface Robloxsupersuperhappyface joined Wikipedia in July of this year, and has become the most prolific tropical cyclone editor relating to current events, as well as playing an enormous role in creation of newly formed tropical cyclones that eventually became destructive in many regions they are affected in ( Hurricane Sally to Gulf Coast of the United States, Typhoon Goni to the Philippines, and Hurricane Iota to Central America respectively - Also, both Goni and Iota are Storms of the Month!). Because of that reason, Robloxsupersuperhappyface's articles are the one of the most viewed tropical cyclone articles in this year - as well as helped us on inviting prospective tropical cyclone editors to this project as they edited Robloxsupersuperhappyface's articles, leading into why we have more than 100 members in this WikiProject leading to this issue. As the result of brilliant Robloxsupersuperhappyface's contributions, we want to give many, many thanks to Super for helping this WikiProject grow so much recently. Happy Thanksgiving! New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter - project membership is over 100 now! More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue. Sorted chronologically in order of which they joined.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions! Let's talk about that - An opinion piece by Weatherman27 Before I start, I would like to link everyone to a new essay regarding Force Thirteen. Here it is: WP:F13. I recommend users (old and new) to read this to understand why we don't use Force Thirteen as a source, and why it isn't a reliable source. If you want to see what good reliable sources are, read this: WP:WPTC/AS Now, I will get to the main point of this opinion piece. Recently, I have gotten more involved in talk pages, and sharing my ideas and/or my opinions on different issues or ideas that have come up, primarily on 2020 Atlantic hurricane season's talk page. As I have discussed these thoughts and ideas with other editors, I have noticed and experienced some things such as being personally attacked, which has led me to want to reiterated some key points here. Despite the fact that they are mentioned commonly at the top of talk pages, I want to bring these up as it is important to have a good base where people can properly chat and discuss topics in peace. 1. Treat others with respect This one can't be stressed enough. Especially on talk pages, it is a place where you and your peers communicate issues, opinions, or ideas to each-other. This means discussing topics in a kind and adult manner. There is nothing wrong with disagreeing in what somebody may say, but that does not mean that you have the right to put them down for not having similar views. It is simply the Golden Rule. 2. Assume Good faith Along with my first point, I feel this one needs to be brought up. People have different opinions, and that is all right, but just because you may not agree with it or what they say, does not mean that it was not out of good faith. They were most likely voicing what they think on the subject, and that is alright. This also goes for edits. Unless it is pretty obvious that a user as vandalized something, it is always good to assume good faith, as other people might not know the rules as well as a more experienced editor. 3. Avoid Personal attacks This is a very important subject that needs to be remembered not just on talk pages, but on all other parts of Wikipedia as well. On talk pages, discussions can get pretty tense and heated, and I admit that I have gotten into a few of these arguments as well. Despite this, it is never okay to attack someone. As a user who has gotten personally attacked before, I can definitely say that it does not feel good, and usually the person who made the attacked will get warned or blocked, so please be kind and accept what other people have to say, because you will get nowhere by being rude. 4. Come to a consensus (preferably a clear one) On talk pages, whenever there is a discussion regarding something important like the merging of an article, people need to decide what the outcome of something important on a talk page. For example, if there is say, a merge discussion for an article on a tropical cyclone, many people will give their input. Usually, different people will have different views on whether to merge or keep the article. Sometimes, the editor will close the discussion early, but this is usually for unrelated reasons, though it sometimes may be because the editor had a change of mind. Now, if there is support for say a merge of the article, then that will be the consensus and the discussion will be closed and the article merged. This can also happen on the opposite side, if an article is to be kept, the discussion will be closed and article kept. Simply put, it is important to discuss and come to a clear decision if there is a consensus involved, to avoid difficulty with the article or page in the future. These are just a few examples of things that editors of the WPTC need to remember when using talk page discussions. There are plenty of other things not mentioned here that are just as important when it comes to using talk pages. I made this simply to help remind editors the key points when using the discussions, and I hope these were helpful to new users as well as veterans. We need to really get better at staying calm and keeping civil. I have noticed lots of hostility and arguing lately, as well as edit warring and disputes. We need to work this out. We are supposed to work together as WPTC editors, so please fix it. It is sad seeing so many editors getting reported or having to get blocked from this. Once again, keep discussions civil and have a good day. Signing off, 🌀 Weatherman27🏈 My experiences as a WikiProject Tropical cyclones member by SMB99thx Hello again, people of the WikiProject Tropical cyclones! In here, I want to tell how my experiences with WikiProject Tropical Cyclones changed my views on WikiProjects, helped me out of trouble and to be able to regain the trust of many people in Wikipedia. When I joined WikiProject Tropical cyclones, it was the second WikiProject I have ever joined. The first WikiProject I have ever joined is WikiProject COVID-19, and the reason why I joined that project is to gain trust of people when I contributed to COVID-19 articles and as well as my fight against an IP editor which turned out to be the LTA named Bedriczwaleta (and has been active much more longer than I thought, since February of last year (!!!!)). I have the same thought process (and combined with my plans of editing old season articles, which is not done yet) when I first joined this WikiProject, but joining the WikiProject Tropical cyclones turned out to be something different. It led me to know what are the purposes of WikiProjects are and in turn led me to join many other WikiProjects since. As such, what made me change my views on WikiProjects during my time as a WikiProject Tropical Cyclones? First of all, I have seen that WikiProject Tropical cyclones members always actively work together to advance project goals, actively participating in discussions and give much-needed advice on new WikiProject Tropical cyclones members (including me). Second, WPTC really cares about our articles (and the assessments) as part of their project goals. 2018 FT project and Meteorological history of Hurricane Dorian (Four Award!) is a prime example of this. Third, we are actively welcoming the new members of this WikiProject and giving these members opportunity to succeed with us by i.e. giving out WikiLove (barnstars). Fourth, we, like WP COVID-19, actively fight against vandals and other LTAs e.g. Sidow........., UnderArmorKid, and Iphonehurricane95. These kinds of activity led me to change my belief on what WikiProjects truly are. You could see this kind of activity on other good WikiProjects like WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors, which I just joined recently on 26 October 2020 as of this newsletter and WikiProject Articles of Creation, which I have interest on joining but I might not be able to. Now, why WikiProject Tropical cyclones brought me out of trouble (and Chicdat, for that matter)? WikiProject Tropical cyclones is generally a content-creating WikiProject. We really care about improving tropical cyclone coverage on Wikipedia. Members of this WikiProject generally encouraged to communicate and discuss (in Wikipedia, in Discord, or in IRC channel), and this is what helped me and Chicdat out from trouble since our discussions from what I have seen is not always administrative. Before I joined WikiProject Tropical cyclones (and when I was still new to WikiProject Tropical cyclones), I have been putting myself on trouble numerous times. I was an ANI regular, and as an ANI regular I detailed about my struggle to deal with the LTA Bedriczwaleta and I'm was also putting up IBAN proposals of User:Jadebenn and User:Moamem as well as User:U1Quattro and User:1292simon. While I have managed to get my proposal succeeded and finally got Bedriczwaleta back on track for a while (what I thought), in August 20 (as I was about to finalize my decision to enter my college I'm currently in right now) I got myself into serious trouble against IP range 185.66.252.0/23 (which is apparently good at programming - I'm not). I tried to get them blocked for PA (calling me a thief who has a black soul), but this is where when I realized that I had to attribute things I copied within Wikipedia and I had to apologize to the user. Since then, I did my best to attribute everything I had copied articles from ( Example) and I also realized that ANI is not for me (as I do not want to get into troubles by just being there), which led me to quitting ANI until November of this year when I decided to involve myself on Miggy72 dispute (now banned for sockpuppetry - Miggy72 could have been invited to WPTC if he stopped on insisting to create non-notable topics). After that incident with the IP range 185.66.252.0/23, I have stated that I do not want to get myself into trouble as a presence in ANI. As such, I decided to focus on what I want to do, which is to continue my project of splitting season articles of the yesteryear and began to increasingly involve myself within the project - to look for help and giving the best help that I can do for this WikiProject. The activity from that September led me to become Member of the Month in the previous edition of this newsletter. It was a comeback that I needed, and I want to thank WikiProject Tropical cyclones (especially Hurricanehink) for getting me on this situation. Without their help, I'm not sure if I could be here on this day. Now, for the final question – why this WikiProject helped me (and Chicdat) regain trust of many people in Wikipedia? As I stated before, this WikiProject encourages discussion within other members of this WikiProject, which in turn encourages close involvement in all sides of this WikiProject. Because of this, some people are actually helping us learning policies in Wikipedia as the time goes on, rather than falling in into blocks. As such, with time, I have seen that some admins are open for Chicdat to become a rollbacker, while I got hold on several automated gadgets that was more useful. It appears that these tools are the reason why these people are one of the more trusted people in Wikipedia, which in turn helped me a lot at gaining trust. Someday in the future, I'm looking to become an admin by myself. But that's for the another day. For now, what I'm currently doing now is to work at my craft to eventually prepare for the day when I will seek for adminship in the years ahead. In conclusion, you can see that this WikiProject helped me to regain my standing, alongside Chicdat, Nioni1234, Cristianpogi678, HurricaneTracker495 - and of course - CyclonicallyDeranged! If not for this WikiProject, I don't think they are will be here. Chicdat could have been CIR-blocked like Prahlad balaji and PythonSwarm, Nioni1234 and Cristianpogi678 ending up like Binbin0111 and Miggy72, HurricaneTracker495 would have a trouble establishing himself (or probably will never establish theirselves and stay as an IP) and CyclonicallyDeranged fully driven out from Wikipedia. By the way, to me, both Binbin0111 and Miggy72 are young, but unfortunately they took on the wrong path (Binbin0111 was one of the earliest Force Thirteen insinuators - Binbin0111 is probably the impetus of Force Thirteen policy in this project (as it was made back in 2017), while Miggy72... we know what happened). I feel bad for them, especially Binbin0111. Had Binbin0111 is willing to learn and took steps forward to become productive young editor like Yellow Evan and two other resilient young editors I have mentioned did, Binbin0111 could have been one of the most valuable editors in this project, especially in matters related to Western Pacific basin, and in extension, Vietnam. That's it. That's what I have to say. College is increasingly getting into my feelings right now, but I will do my best as I can coming into December. Sorry if I have a bad English. Thanks for reading this opinion piece! Greetings from Indonesia, |
The Hurricane Herald:
Wikipedia's 20th Anniversary and
New Year's Special Edition!
The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the mailing list. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from December 1, 2020–January 15, 2021. This edition's editors and authors are MarioJump83, Hurricanehink, Destroyeraa, Chicdat, Typhoon2013, CycloneFootball71, Hurricane Noah, LightandDark2000, Cyclone Toby (editor's pick for member of the month), Skarmory, Shift674, and HurricaneCovid. Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions can be viewed here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include:
Typhoon Ike was also promoted from GA to A-class article. Member of the month (Editor's Pick) – Cyclone Toby Cyclone Toby first joined Wikipedia in July 2020 as I like hurricanes. Since then, they have become one of the most active editors, taking the initiative of fulfilling article requests, as well as helping us work on finishing many drafts we have. These articles include Hurricanes in Hispaniola, Hurricanes in Nicaragua, and Hurricanes in Honduras, as well as helping out getting Effects of Hurricane Dorian in the Carolinas (a long-standing draft that took many efforts to get it published to mainspace) nominated for GA, as of this writing. There are more articles Cyclone Toby is currently working on other than the ones previously listed. Also, Cyclone Toby is one of the kinder members of WPTC, actively welcoming many new editors that edited articles under WikiProject Tropical cyclones banner, as well as inviting some of these editors to the project, in which their influence ended up bringing more editors to WPTC without any invitation. We thank Cyclone Toby for work they have done in the past year, which was a horrible year for many of us, but Toby is one of many bright spots that helped us get through that year. As we enter the new year, we encourage Cyclone Toby to keep up their work and eventually complete these drafts, which will ultimately lead to the clearing of the backlog of drafts within the project.
From December 1, 2020 to January 15, 2021, there were no articles promoted to Featured Article status.
There is currently one featured article candidate:
For the next steps of the 2018 Global FT project, we're likely to finish the 2018 Pacific hurricane season FT by the end of the year. Hurricane Bud (2018) is likely to become a Featured Article (FA) around the first anniversary of the 2018 Global FT task force, which will be in June 2021, while Hurricane Olivia (2018) is the most likely FAC next in line. Sooner or later (which might happen before Bud or Olivia is FA), Timeline of the 2018 Pacific hurricane season will be completed, and subsequently nominated for Good Article (GA) status. After that, 2018 Pacific hurricane season might be nominated for Featured Topic (FT) before the timeline or the article is nominated for FA, based on the likely order of completion provided by Hurricane Noah on December 22, 2020 with some changes due to priorities after that time. We also began to focus more attention on the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season FT, as evidenced by Hurricane Beryl and Hurricane Chris (2018) becoming GAs by the time of this issue of The Hurricane Herald, as well as the merger of Meteorological history of Hurricane Michael into Hurricane Michael (despite the merge moratorium which was enacted in November 23, 2020 - this was made possible by getting the consensus for an exception to the merge moratorium), which boosted the prospects of Hurricane Michael becoming a GA by the time of the next issue or the following one. Our next step in the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season FT, as it is currently planned right now, is to have Hurricane Leslie (2018) promoted to a GA. In the Western Pacific, the creation of Effects of Typhoon Mangkhut in the Philippines is still being planned out, while Cimaron, Trami, Kong-rey, and Son-Tinh are in line to be nominated for GA later on - and Jebi may well become a FA by the next issue. In the North Indian Ocean, Cyclone Titli was recently created and likely to be expanded later on. In the Southern Hemisphere, Cyclone Owen is currently being worked on to become a GA someday, while Berguitta, Josie, Keni, and Liua are still under construction. For the Mediterranean, Cyclone Zorbas will be expanded upon and nominated for GA, some time after this issue.
If you are interested in writing new articles, promoting articles to GA, or helping with the FAC review process for the Global 2018 FT project, please reach out to Hurricane Noah or any other member of the 2018 FT task force. WikiProject To-Do
Current assessment table Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See
here for the latest, most up to date statistics.
Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for December through January 15, 2021 Storm of the month for December –
Cyclone Yasa Afterward, Yasa underwent an eyewall replacement cycle as it neared Fiji, causing the storm to weaken. Early on December 17, Yasa made landfall on Bua Province on Vanua Levu, as a powerful Category 4-equivalent tropical cyclone on the SSHWS (Category 5 severe tropical cyclone on the Australian scale). Following landfall, Yasa quickly weakened, dropping back to tropical storm-equivalent status within two days. Afterward, Yasa moved in a southward direction while continuing its weakening trend, falling below tropical cyclone status on December 19, and dissipating on December 24. Yasa killed 4 people in Fiji and left another person missing. As of this writing, the damage estimates for Yasa are still being calculated, but Yasa had caused extensive damage on Vanua Levu, likely becoming the most destructive tropical cyclone to strike Fiji since Winston in 2016.
Storm of the Year 2020 – Hurricane Eta Eta was a powerful and long-lived hurricane that devastated Central America in November 2020. The twenty-ninth tropical depression, record-tying twenty-eighth named storm, twelfth hurricane, and fifth major hurricane of the extremely active 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, Eta originated from a vigorous tropical wave in the eastern Caribbean Sea on October 28. On October 30, the system organized into Tropical Depression Twenty-Nine, before becoming a tropical storm on the next day, at which time it was given the name Eta by the National Hurricane Center (NHC). On November 2, Eta became undergoing rapid intensification over the western Caribbean, as it progressed westward, with the cyclone ultimately becoming a Category 4 hurricane on November 3. Later that day, Eta reached its peak intensity, with 1-minute sustained winds of 150 mph (240 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 922 mbar ( hPa; 27.23 inHg), it was the third-most intense November Atlantic hurricane on record, behind the 1932 Cuba hurricane, and Hurricane Iota, which struck the same region just two weeks later. However, satellite data suggests that Eta may have reached Category 5 intensity at the time of its peak intensity, since reconnaissance aircraft failed to sample the hurricane's strongest winds at the time of its peak intensity. Despite this, in their post-storm report, the NHC maintained Eta as a powerful Category 4 hurricane. Six hours after reaching its peak, Eta underwent an eyewall replacement cycle, causing the storm to weaken somewhat. At 21:00 UTC on November 2, Eta made landfall south of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (225 km/h) and a central pressure of 940 mbar (hPa; 27.76 inHg). Following landfall, Eta rapidly weakened to a tropical depression by 00:00 UTC on November 5. Despite the mountainous terrain, Eta's low-level circulation survived, and Eta retained tropical depression status for another day, during its two-day trek across Central America, before degenerating into a remnant low overland later on November 5. On November 6, Eta's remnant low moved north over water and regenerated into a tropical depression, before turning towards the northeast. Afterward, Eta reorganized into a tropical storm over the Caribbean on November 7, as it accelerated toward Cuba. On the next day, Eta made landfall on Cuba's Sancti Spíritus Province as a tropical storm, before quickly emerging into the Atlantic and turning westward. Over the next five days, the system moved erratically, making a third landfall on Lower Matecumbe Key in the Florida Keys, on November 9, before slowing down and making a counterclockwise loop in the southern Gulf of Mexico, just off the coast of Cuba, with the storm's intensity fluctuating along the way. Afterward, Eta turned north-northeastward and briefly regained Category 1 hurricane strength on November 11, before weakening back into a tropical storm several hours later. On November 12, Eta made a fourth landfall over Cedar Key, Florida. Eta weakened after making landfall, before eventually re-emerging into the Atlantic later that day. Afterward, Eta became extratropical on November 13, before being absorbed into another frontal system off the coast of the Eastern United States on the next day. In all, Hurricane Eta killed at least 211 people, left 120 people missing, and caused at least $7.9 billion (2020 USD) in damages, with the vast majority of the deaths and damages occurring in Central America. Just two weeks later, Central America was struck by Hurricane Iota as a high-end Category 4 hurricane, making landfall near the same location as Eta, which further exacerbated the disaster in the region. Member of the month (edition) – Jason Rees Jason first created an account on Wikipedia in August 2006, after tracking Hurricane Katrina and countless other storms in 2005. Since then, he has written four featured articles and 21 good articles. Recently, Jason has done great work expanding and cleaning up Cyclone Yasa, one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the South Pacific basin. He is also an active content creator, currently writing Cyclone Meena. Overall, Jason has done an outstanding job expanding the scope of tropical cyclone articles in the Southern Hemisphere basins, such as the South Pacific, where there is, sadly, a shortage of active users. We want to thank him for his wonderful work, and thus award him the Member of the Month award for this edition. New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue. Sorted chronologically.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions! A year in review: WPTC's accomplishments in 2020 2020 has been a hard year for many of us. Depending on where you live, the COVID-19 pandemic began as early as January. In most of the world, the pandemic ramped up in February and March, reaching its first peak in April–May. A second wave struck in June–August, which saw cases dramatically increase across the globe, while the third and largest wave began around October. However, during this pandemic, through lock-downs and online learning, as well as the the insanely active 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, our WikiProject saw a huge influx of new editors showing interest in editing tropical cyclone articles. Here, we will take a look at the stats: New WPTC members since January 1, 2020:
AC5230,
CycloneFootball71 (Previously Weatherman27),
Chicdat,
Hurricaneboy23,
Chlod,
Destroyeraa,
NOOBSKINSPAMMER,
HurricaneMichael2018,
JoeMT615,
MarioJump83,
Buttons0603,
Robloxsupersuperhappyface,
ChessEric,
Allen2,
Mazum24,
Modokai,
CodingCyclone,
Gumballs678,
Janm 7,
Cyclone Toby,
Hurricanehuron33,
Hurricane21,
TornadoLGS,
Iseriously,
Jupiter50,
ARegularWisconsinite,
CyclonicStormYutu,
ARay10,
Gex4pls,
Nioni1234,
Dannisom,
HurricaneCovid,
Skarmory,
Moline1,
HurricaneIcy,
Beraniladri19,
HurricaneEdgar,
Miguel 04012010,
Cyclonetracker,
Dam222,
Hi 022828,
Elijahandskip,
TovarishhUlyanov,
Animem 1,
Shift674,
Super Cyclonic Storm Corona,
ThePelicanThing,
FinnTheHurricaneFanatic,
8medalkid,
Vida0007,
TFESS,
Doge1941,
Tropical Storm Angela,
HurricaneKappa,
KingLucarius,
Hurricanestudier123,
2 0 D a r t h S a n d M a n 0 5,
iBlazeCat,
FuturPDUCTIONS,
SputtyTheSputnik,
AveryTheComrade,
Poxy4,
SovietCyclone,
Gummycow,
Chong Yi Lam,
German2k2k,
Wikihelp7586,
StopBoi,
Final-Fantasy-HH,
TheActiniumSpoon,
Ididntknowausername, New GAs since January 1, 2020: Hurricane Erin (1995), Typhoon Halola, 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Kirk (2018), Effects of Hurricane Wilma in Mexico, Hurricane Audrey, 2018 Atlantic hurricane season, 1916 Pensacola hurricane, Paleotempestology, 1934 Atlantic hurricane season, 1916 Virgin Islands hurricane, Cyclone Indlala, Typhoon Cecil (1985), Meteorological history of Hurricane Florence, 1929 Bahamas hurricane, 1938 Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Olga (2019), 1923 Atlantic hurricane season, 1893 San Roque hurricane, 2006–07 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, Typhoon Zeke, Typhoon Amy (1991), Typhoon Yunya (1991), Effects of Hurricane Dorian in the Caribbean, Typhoon Sarika, Typhoon Warren, Typhoon Holly (1984), Typhoon Eli (1992), Typhoon Alex (1987), Typhoon Irving (1982), Tropical Storm Bolaven (2018), Tropical Storm Sanba (2018), Tropical Storm Nanmadol (2017), 2018 Pacific hurricane season, Hurricane Dolores (2015), Typhoon Percy (1990), Tropical Storm Ampil, Typhoon Jebi (2018), Tropical Storm Ewiniar (2018), Hurricane Barry (2019), Tropical Storm Bertha (2020), Tropical Storm Arthur (2020), Hurricane Chris (2018), Typhoon Louise–Marge, Cyclone Ava, Hurricane Beryl New FAs since January 1, 2020: Tropical Storm Ileana (2018), Cyclone Chapala, Racer's hurricane, Hurricane Humberto (2019), Tropical Storm Zelda (1991), Hurricane Lane (2018), 1916 Texas hurricane, Hurricane Willa, Meteorological history of Hurricane Dorian, Tropical Storm Vicente (2018), Hurricane Hector (2018), Hurricane Walaka Sockpuppetry in WPTC, by LightandDark2000 Due to recent incidents involving sockpuppetry within WPTC, I invited some editors to address the problem of socking inside the project. Mario Jump 83! Sockpuppetry is a serious offense committed by various users on Wikipedia. Our own WPTC is not immune to this travesty. WPTC has seen its fair share of abuse from serial vandals and LTAs throughout the years. From 2013 through 2018, IPhonehurricane95 vandalized dozens of tropical cyclone articles and created more than 200 sock accounts. For several years, mostly spanning a two-year period from 2013 to 2014, IPhonehurricane95 defaced numerous tropical cyclone articles, mostly ones that he had once contributed to, were major storms, or were storms in an active tropical cyclone season. He also attacked essentially every single active editor on WPTC at the time, and he went on to attack every single Admin and CheckUser who had ever blocked him, in addition to making making racist remarks and threats of harassment. He eventually went cross-wiki, forcing the intervention of Stewards. In July 2014, he began including graphic 9/11 images in his vandalism, which further damaged the image of the project. IPhonehurricane95's vandalism inspired several copy-cat vandals, including one who has continued to plague the project to this day. This is a problem with LTAs and serial vandals – those who aren't stopped quickly enough and early on often bring bad publicity to the project, in addition to elevating the risk of copycat inspiring knock-offs. In 2016, IPhonehurricane95's socking spree dramatically decreased, with the LTA disappearing in 2018. Sockpuppetry on WPTC has not been nearly as bad since then, but sockpuppetry persisted on WPTC afterward, even to this day. Recent LTAs that WPTC had to deal with include Fly High in the Sky and Wyatt2049, and possibly Evlekis, with the later two engaging in a campaign of vandalism claiming fake Category 5 upgrades (or Category 0 downgrades) "from God" that attracted a lot of bad publicity. Recently, some users dabbled with socking, which got them into trouble. With the recent breaches of trust on WPTC and the confirmation of socking by CUs in several of the newer members, some members of WPTC have called for WPTC members to be vetted by CUs. In the past year alone, a few editors who had recently joined the project came out as sockmasters who went on to become LTAs, further adding to the pressure on WPTC. Personally, I feel that the newer users who joined within the past 6 months with a history of disruption should be examined by a CheckUser, but long-standing CU policy is to not investigate anyone unless there are serious allegations of sockpuppetry (with evidence). This policy exists for good reason, and these requests for blanket CUs may very well be turned down, if proposed. Sockpuppetry is not only bad for the reputation and integrity of the project. It is also harmful to the well-being of editors on the site, especially when they become the targets of attacks. In addition, sockpuppetry breaks the trust of the community when the said offender is a trusted and valued member of the community, no matter the level and duration of the offense. Those editors have to work hard to regain the trust of the community, and in some cases, trust may never be restored. Perhaps equally as bad, sockpuppetry leads to false accusations of the practice and claims of intentional bad faith against both reformed ex-sockpuppeteers and non-socking editors alike. This further damages the reputation of the site, while unnecessarily inflaming tensions between editors on the project and damaging the cohesion between the community. These aspersions also hurt well-meaning editors on the site, and can have the unwanted consequences of embittering them or prompting them to go into retirement. While there are users on WPTC who are dedicated to rooting out and combatting vandals and sockpuppeteers on the site (including some who are a part of the Counter-Vandalism Unit), this is a responsibility that the entire project needs to bear as a whole, since socking is an issue that affects the entire project in one way or another. Editors should be willing and able to investigate potential cases of socking and other types of abusive behavior, while maintaining good faith at the same time. Sockpuppetry is serious issue and an ongoing challenge to the project. Equally as bad are unfounded allegations of the abuse against editors with a long-standing history of being a net-positive. However, together, as a community, we can combat this menace to safeguard the integrity and accuracy of WPTC articles, and make Wikipedia a healthy, productive environment. ~ LightandDark2000 🌀 The Renewal and Growth of WPTC, by LightandDark2000 WPTC had its humble beginnings in the early days of Wikipedia. The WikiProject was founded by Jdorje on October 5, 2005, during the heart of the record-breaking and devastating 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. The founding of WPTC provided a place for editors who had an interest in tropical cyclones to collaborate. Over the next few years, dozens of users flocked to WPTC, growing the ranks to over 60 active members by 2011. This was the first generation of WPTC editors, many of whom had been active on Wikipedia within a few years of its founding in 2001. The first WPTC editors worked hard on improving the quality and quantity of tropical cyclone articles, attaining 100 Good Articles (GAs) and several Featured Articles (FAs) by January 2007. The number of existing TC articles grew each month, with the project boasting 1,000 articles by January 2008. However, as the years passed by, long-time members of the WPTC gradually began dropping out. Reasons included entering college, a busy work schedule, loss of interest in the subject, and retirement from Wikipedia, among other reasons. By January 2011, more than 120 members had either become inactive or had left Wikipedia entirely. By the end of the year, WPTC membership had hemorrhaged to the point where roughly 19 users remained in the WikiProject. As of this writing, the first 13 members on the WPTC roster can be considered the remaining "core" of this first generation that has stayed with the project throughout the years. But the initial WPTC Golden Age was over. The flow of new recruits fell off sharply, and overall interest declined. WPTC would remain at this reduced level of membership and activity for years to come. More users continued to join the WikiProject over the next several years, albeit on a significantly reduced scale. Even then, the vast majority of the work done on tropical cyclone articles were largely carried out by a "core" of roughly a dozen experienced editors who stayed on with the WikiProject throughout the year, even as tropical cyclone activity shifted between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. However, this reduction in the numbers of active users meant that many more articles ended up being neglected, or suffered from reduced quality. The flow of new GAs and FAs slowed down, and new FACs almost ground to a halt. Some long-time editors, such as Hurricanehink, continued to hammer out TC articles, while recruiting and mentoring new members. The second generation of WPTC editors began showing up in 2013 through 2016, including Nova Crystallis, Typhoon2013, Master of Time, KN2731, and me. (I had edited on Wikipedia for several years before then, but I wasn't officially a part of WPTC prior to 2014.) While new editors continued to join each year, others kept on leaving, and the size of the roster remained around the same size. On a Featured Article review, one of the reviewers even remarked that WPTC was no longer as lively as it once was, with much of the activity having died down. Working on WPTC grew depressing at times, with some of the active editors moving on to other topics when their basins of interest went inactive (usually when the northern hemisphere seasons came to an end). Articles suffered from quality control and content issues in numerous places, especially articles on storms outside of the North Atlantic and East/Central Pacific hurricane basins, where most of the activity from experienced editors was historically concentrated. Articles for storms in the Southern Hemisphere were the hardest-hit, with only a few editors, such as Jason Rees, continuing to work hard on them year-round. As usual, the vast majority of work fell on a tight-knit group of roughly two dozen editors, most of whom were senior editors who had been present since the early days of WPTC. At times, I wondered whether I would ever see the day in which we would have enough active editors on our roster to bring WPTC back to its former glory. From 2016 to 2018, more users joined WPTC, including ChocolateTrain, Hurricane Noah, and MarioProtIV, some of whom would later play a key role in revitalizing tropical cyclone articles or WPTC on some level. In 2018, Hurricane Noah helped restructure some of the internal dynamics of WPTC, including the creation of specific task forces for certain topics and also designing a new award system, in order to help motivate WPTC members and also to help coordinate the work between other editors more effectively. That same year, he kicked off a massive campaign to get more articles to GA and FA status, By late 2020, more than two dozen articles had been brought up to GA or FA status, and WPTC saw its first potential Featured Topic Candidate in more than 6 years (the 2018 Pacific hurricane season). After 2019, the number of new members gradually increased, and activity picked up across the WikiProject. A third batch of new editors showed up between 2018 and 2019, tripling the WPTC roster to 60+ active members. These editors included FleurDeOdile, CycloneYoris, EBGamingWiki, Sandy14156, SaiTheCyclone, DavidTheMeteorologist, JavaHurricane, and others. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Despite the ensuing lockdowns and other fallouts from the pandemic, WPTC saw an explosion of new editors that same year. This 4th generation of editors was, by far, probably the largest influx of new membership that WPTC had ever seen. By the end of the year, the active membership roster had exploded from 69 to 124 active members. Our newer members from 2020 include AC5230, CycloneFootball71, Chicdat, Hurricaneboy23, Chlod, Destroyeraa, MarioJump83, ChessEric, Modokai, CodingCyclone, Cyclone Toby, TornadoLGS, HurricaneCovid, Skarmory, and many, many others. The wait was finally over. New life had been breathed back into WPTC. It was almost as if the good old days of the WikiProject were starting to return. While we've had our ups and downs this year, the influx of new editors infused WPTC with much-needed new blood and also helped relieve the senior editors of some of the burdens they've had to bear for years. Our hope is that the vast majority of these new editors will stay with us going forward, even as tropical cyclone activity cycles on and off across the world. Even after the pandemic-related lockdowns end. In closing, I want to thank my fellow WPTC editors for my experience. When I first started as an IP editor on Wikipedia more than a decade ago, I never imagined that WikiProjects existed, not to mention one specifically tailored for tropical cyclones. I had a rough start here, with a bitey reception from most of the others who communicated with me, while also struggling to learn some of Wikipedia's fundamental policies (particularly citations). However, I eventually eased into the place and the others warmed to me, and my proficiency in editing improved as I spent more time on Wikipedia. The truth is, whenever I came under pressure in other areas of Wikipedia, whether it is from hounding, witch hunts, attacks, or other hostile behavior, I've always retreated back to WPTC. Why? Because I've always felt much more welcome here. And safe. In some ways, WPTC has become my home on Wikipedia. I've gotten so much more out of here than I had expected to as well. My time on Wikipedia helped sharpen my writing (and typing) skills, which was a rather nice bonus. I've also made a number of new friends here (some of whom I've grown rather close with), all of whom I enjoy working with. Thank you, all of you, for everything. Thank you for showing me what the Wikipedia experience should be like, and thank you for being willing to befriend me. I look forward to continue working with you all and growing with you in the years to come. May you all have a wonderful 2021! ~ LightandDark2000 🌀 My stress, by MarioJump83 Hello, this is my first opinion piece on Hurricane Herald as MarioJump83. In this opinion piece, I want to explain why I'm not as active as I'm hoping for in recent weeks. I do not plan to ever make this opinion piece at all, but I had to speak out about my issue with my activity in order to balance this edition of Hurricane Herald as well as to prevent attempts at adding my work-in-progress opinion piece to this issue because I'm planning to package that opinion piece with a long-finished but unfortunately delayed opinion piece. I want to apologize for delaying my work-in-progress opinion piece numerous times, given there are numerous issues about it, one of which (stress) will be addressed in this opinion piece. Since last December, I have repeatedly have been on semi-wikibreaks. Wikipedia, as I know it, is a serious business. I was no longer the "nice guy" when I got my MoTM. Stress has been building up as I faced college exams as well as my father's stroke which happened on December 17, 2020. I attempted to break this semi-wikibreak once as I requested to change my name from SMB99thx into MarioJump83 for a breath of a fresh air (some days before that I requested deletion of my userpage for the same reason), and did some AfC reviewing spree in January 2 and 3. But as it turns out, it was quite a failure as three AfC submissions I accepted ended up being in jeopardy, with me trying to save the last one standing. I think these experiences ruined my chance to become a permanent new page reviewer, pushed me back into my semi-wikibreak once more and I had to enroll myself into New Page Patrol School in hopes of getting back into what I wanted. As such, I decided to commit into content creation as I was granted page mover rights (temporary) on January 4. As of now, I'm trying my best to come out on this second semi-wikibreak, bringing myself out of trouble that I didn't intend to participate in and planning to become autopatrolled some day as the college exams are winding over. Wish me and my family for the best in the coming weeks, anyone! I'm hoping that it will happen after the release of this issue, if not later. By the way - even when I'm still stressed - I am going to wish everybody Happy New Year and Happy 20th Wikipedia anniversary! (Don't forget that we also reached edit number 1,000,000,000!) |
The Hurricane Herald
The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the member list. New members will automatically receive this newsletter. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from January 15–February 28, 2021. This edition's editors and authors are MarioJump83, Destroyeraa, HurricaneCovid, CycloneFootball71, HurricaneEdgar, Skarmory, Typhoon2013 (editor's pick for member of the month), and our member of the month, LightandDark2000! Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions, including past MoTMs and SoTMs, can be viewed here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments
New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include:
I, MarioJump83, the interim coordinator of 2018 Global FT's WPAC squad, feels bad with what is going on as I felt we are taking a step back with the ongoing real-life difficulties regarding important members of our task force. KN2731 had to take a wikibreak because of the compulsory service in Singapore and will likely be gone for two years; Destroyeraa's activities were highly inhibited by multiple illnesses, school exams, "bullying" issues, and series of winter storms this month; Hurricane Noah almost took a two-month-long wikibreak because due to college studies, which Noah is committed to (he also left the WPTC Discord for a couple of months, due to toxicity). I don't really like to take a lot of responsibilities within the 2018 Global FT task force, as I had joined with the intent of helping GA's that involves this year, i.e. like what I did in Cyclone Ava and Cyclone Owen as of now, but with so many of us were forced out of commission due to these problems I mentioned, I and LightandDark2000 had to take much of the responsibility within the task force. Because of this reason, I strongly recommend you, readers of Hurricane Herald, to join this task force to help take pressure off from us. Note that this is not a formal invite, as Wikipedia is free and anyone can edit, but this is what we have to deal with in this current situation, especially because of our real-life problems and commitments. Let's hope that we, including you, can make this through with what we can do!
If you are interested in writing new articles, promoting articles to GA, or helping with the FAC review process for the Global 2018 FT project, please reach out to LightandDark2000 or any other member of the 2018 FT task force. WikiProject To-Do
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for the rest of January and February SoTM for January –
Cyclone Eloise Eloise caused numerous disasters throughout numerous countries, specifically, in Madagascar, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, and Mozambique. Mozambique was the hardest-hit. In Madagascar, Eloise destroyed 190 homes and caused the death of one person. In South Africa, Eloise caused the deaths of 10 people, four of which were children, in addition to being responsible for making another 7 people go missing. In Zimbabwe, Eloise caused damage and destruction to nearly a thousand homes, some of which were badly affected by Idai two years ago. Three people were also swept away by flooding from Eloise and were presumed to be dead. In Eswatini, over 1,500 people were affected by the storm, two of whom were killed. Eloise also damaged the water system and flooded the gravel roads and low-lying bridges. In Mozambique, the residents compared the cyclone's impacts to Cyclone Idai, which had catastrophically devastated the country two years earlier. This storm caused psychological trauma and mental health crises among the residents of the country. Eloise caused nine deaths in Mozambique, but massive amounts of farmland were flooded, and the storm also damaged over 30,000 houses, the majority of which were destroyed by the storm. 579 classrooms and 86 health centers had to be repaired after the storm. SoTM for February –
Cyclone Guambe Guambe caused widespread flooding in Mozambique, which displaced over 27,000 people and worsened the ongoing crisis in the region. Prisoners had to be transferred away from the cyclone because of potential flooding. There were no deaths recorded and damages were unknown, however the worst part of Guambe wasn't there yet. South Africa were also flooded by Guambe, which might have been caused by the secondary low-level circulation center (LLCC) of Guambe. This secondary LLCC had caused Guambe to slow down, which probably had devastating effects on Bazaruto Archipelago National Park's marine life, as 186 Spinner dolphins were probably killed by the storm. After Guambe re-emerged into the Mozambique Channel, no additional damage to human property was reported, thus marking the end of Guambe's impacts on land.
Member of the month (edition) – LightandDark2000 LightandDark2000 joined Wikipedia as an IP editor on May 2, 2009. Although a couple of users encouraged him to make an account early on, he decided to continue editing articles from his IPs for the next few years. He registered his user account in May 2012 and spent another year on Wikipedia as an IP editor, before fully transitioning over to his account in the summer of 2013. He received an invitation to join WPTC in March 2014, which he accepted. Ever since joining WPTC, LightandDark2000 has been a regular editor on tropical cyclone articles and one of Wikipedia's most active rollbackers, putting him on the forefront in the fight against vandals and LTAs, and actively steering the WikiProject out of stagnation. He also defended WPTC from numerous vandals, including the likes of the LTAs IPhonehurricane95 and Lightning Sabre. In late 2014–early 2017, LightandDark2000 largely moved out of WPTC into MILHIST (as well as taking a 3-month WikiBreak in the fall of 2016—due to college work and stress from on-wiki hounding), before returning to WPTC in September 2017, following the devastating landfall of Hurricane Harvey in Texas. From there, LightandDark2000 regularly contributed to tropical cyclone articles, as well as articles on other storms and natural disasters, before taking a series of WikiBreaks in late 2019 through mid-2020, due to college work and real-life activities. However, LightandDark2000 returned in July 2020, just as the extremely-active North Atlantic hurricane season got underway. By the time the last issue of The Hurricane Herald was released, LightandDark2000 had made a full return and was ramping up activity, even as WPTC was beset by a series of problems within its membership, ranging from blocks to stress-induced WikiBreaks. During this time of crisis, LightandDark2000 stepped up very quickly - first, he helped out a number of users who were struggling with personal issues on the WikiProject. Then, he joined 2018 Global FT (currently the Interim Coordinator, with Hurricane Noah and KN2731 stepping aside due to real-life commitments). From there, he conducted his first GA review, which was for Hurricane Beryl. After that, he took on a major role in the writing of the previous issue of The Hurricane Herald, which as of this writing is the biggest issue of Hurricane Herald ever published, at an excess of 50,000 bytes, as well as being the most visually-balanced Hurricane Herald issue since the first issues of Hurricane Herald (if it were to be viewed using a 1920×1080 desktop using Legacy Vector). For these reasons and his contributions to the WPTC in the past, we will finally thank LightandDark2000 for all of his contributions by rewarding him with the Member of the Month for this edition. It's quite sad that he didn't get this award since the restart of Hurricane Herald in late 2018 to this day, but now, he has the opportunity to win the award for the first time. We are hoping to see more from LightandDark2000 in the future. For example, he joined the 2021 Cyclone Cup (and also volunteered to take on the role of a judge, if necessary), a new competition for WPTC members based on the WikiCup! New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue. Sorted chronologically.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions!
From January 15 to February 28 no featured article were promoted. From the Main Page: Documents WikiProject related materials that have appeared on the main page from January 15–February 28, 2021 in chronological order. There are currently no featured article candidates. Current assessment table Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See
here for the latest, most up to date statistics.
Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
Special thanks to David Roth, Keith Edkins, Hylian Auree and HurricaneSpin In this section, we want to thank these first-generation WPTC members for being able to stay in here for years before 2020. They (David, Keith, Hylian and Spin) are one of greatest content creators in WPTC history, helping to build and shape WPTC for what it is now today. Without them, we don't know if WPTC would be like today. David Roth's expertise, Keith Edkins' maintenance activities, Hylian's and Spin's content creation skill helped a lot in the early days of WPTC and we hope some of us can replicate what they can do in today's WPTC. Member of the month (Editor's Pick) – Typhoon2013 Typhoon2013 first edited Wikipedia in August 2013, and ever since joining Wikipedia, Typhoon2013 has been one of the most prolific editors in Western Pacific basin. Since last November, Typhoon2013 has been working very hard on getting tropical cyclone intensity lists of Western Pacific basin done, lending a hand in creation of named storms lists of C, P, R, and S (alongside finishing List of named storms (T) which I was unable to complete because of college), as well as finishing storm lists of Pacific typhoon seasons from 1980 to 1964. For the efforts Typhoon2013 has done leading to the publishing of this newsletter, I, MarioJump83, as one of many editors of Hurricane Herald, will be picking Typhoon2013 as the Member of the Month (Editor's Pick) and thank him for his contributions to build a bedrock foundation for the rapidly-growing Western Pacific coverage of the Wikipedia. We wish Typhoon2013 best of luck at college! My experience here on Wikipedia - by Destroyeraa Was planned to be published in 44th edition of Hurricane Herald, however due to some issue ( and per Destroyeraa's request), I have delayed this opinion piece further into this edition. At this point, I do not want to see this opinion piece getting delayed further into May 2021 as I really, really want this OP, alongside my OP below to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Mario Jump 83! I created my Wikipedia account on January 18, 2020. I seems so long ago. My first edit was creating my user page, and my first mainspace edit was on Hammonton, New Jersey. My first autoconformed edit was on my userpage. By then, I was editing about myself and roads. My first tropical cyclone edit was on January 30, on Tropical Storm Nestor, which got reverted. I also edited about the coronavirus epidemic before it became a worldwide pandemic. I edited List of United States tornadoes in April 2020, but got bitten on the talk page, though my love for tornadoes kept me editing pages. I also began editing numerous cyclone pages, and joined WPTC on May 19. It was sad that no one noticed that I joined, and no one welcomed me on my talk page for five months already. I submitted my first article, Tropical Storm Bertha (2020), which was accepted. I was still rather new, and mistook Chicdat as an admin. It was June already. Still, no one welcomed me. Finally, on June 5, Hurricanehink took notice of my edits and welcome me! Around the same time, I downloaded Twinkle. I found the CSD function very cool, and I admittedly didn't read WP:CSD and misused it. One month later, I met my first real vandal, which turned out to be a Force Thirteen kid who was messing around changing everything to Force Thirteen without leaving a source or an edit summary, which most people will take as vandalism. It turned out to be pretty rough, and did not end well for both of us. I was still learning at that stage, as shown here. After that, my experience here got much better. Perhaps it was the "learning-the-ropes" phase that is the hardest for all Wikipedians. I created and wrote some good articles, with my first being Hurricane Dolores, promoted on September 24. I also developed a good relationship with many of my fellow Wikipedians, including the editors/writers of this newsletter and many other newer and older users. Then came the sock block. I'll not get into much detail about that, though I will be forever indebted to the countless users who vouched for me and who welcomed me back to the community with open arms. Thank you. I am glad to be here today.~ Destroyeraa 🌀 🇺🇸 My experiences of tropical cyclones and tropical cyclone editing before joining WPTC - by MarioJump83 I planned this OP way back to September 2020, but because of issues with length and college (also even stress - detailed in my previous opinion piece My stress), I decided to delay this opinion piece until now. I also intend to publish this opinion piece alongside Destroyeraa's OP above, thus pushing back the date where I can publish this opinion piece further. Thus I fully apologize for delaying this opinion piece for way too long. I was unable to spend my time on building this opinion piece because of these issues and thus getting this opinion piece complete in time. By the way, this will be the final opinion piece I will write for Hurricane Herald - I'm done with it after two opinion pieces as SMB99thx and two opinion pieces as MarioJump83. It was so much fun creating opinion pieces, but I don't want to have opinion pieces for four straight issues already since the 43rd edition! I'm still editing Hurricane Herald in the future, but not writing opinion pieces any further - ...unless you're inviting me to write an opinion piece in my user talk page, which I'll do my best to comply. Hello, WikiProject Tropical cyclones! I want to tell you about the reasons why I liked and loved tracking tropical cyclones and my experience regarding editing tropical cyclones before I joined this WikiProject. First of all, I have been watching tropical cyclones but on-and-off since 2012. That year, Hurricane Sandy as I remembered it got significant coverage on my country, Indonesia (Badai Sandy). That hurricane was the first tropical cyclone that I had ever known in my life (it's possible that Hurricane Katrina had significant coverage in my country, but I didn't remember anything at all about it), and without it I would never known about tropical cyclones by myself. When that hurricane was about to be finished, I visited the article about 2012 Atlantic hurricane season on Wikipedia, and it was the first article about tropical cyclones that I have ever read on Wikipedia. From that day, my interest on tropical cyclones grew but it was limited to the Atlantic hurricanes only. When 2013 started, if I'm thinking about tropical cyclones I frequently visited 2013 Atlantic hurricane season, and in particular the Seasonal summary section, which drew my eyes into when I didn't edit tropical cyclone articles yet. In November 2013, however, as I'm becoming an uncle of one (now three), Typhoon Haiyan showed up. That typhoon which devastated the Southeast Asian brother country of Philippines caused my interest on tropical cyclones to grow outside of Atlantic hurricanes. Now I'm finally aware of what's happening in Pacific, and it was the first time that I learned that tropical cyclones are everywhere in the world, not just Atlantic. That time, I read 2013 Pacific typhoon season as well as 2013 Pacific hurricane season (I don't remember reading these kinds of articles before that). When I read about it, I also visited 2013 Atlantic hurricane season once again and I was shocked by that it wasn't active! As such, I didn't watch tropical cyclones that much for most of 2014 and 2015. Hurricane Patricia didn't convince me enough to watch tropical cyclones again. In 2016, things changed again that led me to make my first edits on tropical cyclones in Wikipedia. Once Hurricane Matthew came and with it significant coverage on Indonesia that I have never seen since Hurricane Sandy, I finally watched tropical cyclones full-time for the first time. That hurricane was the cyclone that finally got me going for the tropical cyclones (not just the recent seasons, but the older seasons and also SHEM) and my quick-growing interest on tropical cyclones led me to find what made me uncomfortable. That led me to make my first edit on tropical cyclone-related articles in Wikipedia - which was to add Central Pacific to a navigation template about leading tropical cyclones in March 7, 2017. Later that month, I made a second edit, which was to remove a year from a link to Hurricane Omar. These additions are quite "cosmetic" (as said by ChessEric about Hurricane Michelle GA), but soon enough in the next month I found more things that made me more uncomfortable - they are legitimate vandalism. The first edit I made in that month was to revert a vandalism on Hurricane Andrew (I edited it again after that, which was to change mb to mbar). On the next day, I fixed another vandalism in 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. That isn't the end yet, as I found one more vandalism in Hurricane Dennis, and I promptly fixed them. As I'm getting more invested on tropical cyclone articles, I've eventually heard and found out why some articles didn't have (XXXX year) in them - and it is because that they are primary topics. When I see some articles like Hurricane Linda (1997), which I thought they are primary topics (I eventually realized that they are not, and I have not requested moving these articles under WPTC banner ever since), I sought the same treatment in these kinds of articles that I thought was primary topics and thus I requested moves in many of these said articles under that thought. I believed that these requests will garner support by most of the WPTC members (which I thought will think for the same), but never did I know that these requests gained overwhelming opposes, primarily from WPTC members - and they talked to me about it. Of course, I panicked and I have to withdraw some of these nominations. That didn't stop me from editing more WPTC articles, and I started to do these requested moves again soon after. This is probably the most successful things I have ever done through my pre-WPTC membership career in the WPTC realm. After withdrawing some of these nominations, I began to work on a split of 1940–49 Pacific typhoon seasons article by starting the discussion on one in May 14. Two weeks later, as I said before, I started requesting more of these nominations in a batch on May 27 - which was wildly successful (only one of them were failed, and that was Tropical Storm Bret of 1993). In a month after these nominations, and with the consensus for split, I finally worked on the split itself. 1940 Pacific typhoon season and 1949 Pacific typhoon season has been split from the article much more earlier, with Hurricanehink creating an article for the 1940 season in May 23, 2014 and Typhoon2013 split the 1949 section from the article in December 19, 2016. I continued what Hurricanehink and Typhoon2013 has been doing, with copying content from the original article into the respective season articles. First, I reverted them to the original before Hurricanehink merged them. Afterwards, I copied the respective sections from the original into respective articles and removed the respective sections in the original article. From the IDs, you can notice that I did this not in order. Afterwards, I moved the original article into 1941–44 Pacific typhoon seasons without moving it's talk page, which I want to admit was a mistake and made a major ramifications (I even started a RfD, which should not happen) in my attempts to get it back without getting it's talk page removed later in October 2020. Once moving the article, I created redirects for the recently moved article (which includes 1941 Pacific typhoon season, 1942 Pacific typhoon season, 1943 Pacific typhoon season, and 1944 Pacific typhoon season, all of which eventually turned into articles), and quickly changed redirects of the respective storms into the newly restored articles. It was a massive effort that day on June 27, 2017, and the experience that I never forgotten. After that month, I returned into requesting moves once again for the third time, riding on the recent wave of successes. I requested the moves of Hurricane Norman (1978) and Hurricane Liza. Hurricane Liza move request was successful but Norman did not. By that point, the frustration from WPTC members are showing up and by the time I requested moving Typhoon Ida (1958) into Typhoon Ida, I had to be stopped. I also moved Typhoon Pamela (1976) into Typhoon Pamela without any discussion, but you know my intentions by that point, and the move was soon reverted. I had a talk with Yellow Evan regarding these actions, and I soon relented, never requested any moves ever since. I didn't do much for the rest of the year - the most notable moves are moving disambiguation pages Tropical Storm Noru and Tropical Storm Banyan into Typhoon Noru and Typhoon Banyan, respectively. Moving on to the next year, I did not do much once again. Most of the activity that year was working on the most of Tropical Storm Son-Tinh (2018) article. Keep in mind that I plan to return working on that article as a part of 2018 Global FT efforts, and that happened because KN2731 is going to take a break for most of this year. Onto the 2019, I did something that I think planted the seeds for my future MoTM run and vast WPTC growth in 2020. Most of the activity in general involves creating links to the future articles, but I also fixed redirects for most 1930s seasons and created redirects for the rest of 1960s decade for NIO basin. I planned something greater than that, however, but because I had to use my phone and not my laptop (it was broken) I wasn't able to do so. That plan was a factor leading to me joining the WPTC in July 2020 (after I realized about the benefits of joining the WikiProjects) and I began realizing the plan as soon as I got my laptop back. What I did for the most of August 2020 and September 2020 was mostly set in stone back in the previous year, if you don't notice that. If I didn't plan it back in the day, I don't think I would ever got that MoTM (it would have been Destroyeraa most likely). That was a story. It is a long story. It took me pains to get myself established in WPTC, but now here I am. If anyone could have invited me back in the year 2018, I would have rejected it like CyclonicallyDeranged, whom I believe has been driven out of Wikipedia. But coming to this year, I realized the benefits of joining the WikiProjects and now, as said by Hurricanehink, I became a vital editor for WPTC. |
The Hurricane Herald
The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition on June 4, 2006. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the member list. New members will automatically receive this newsletter. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from March 1–April 30, 2021. This edition's editors and authors are MarioJump83, Chicdat, Super Cyclonic Storm Corona, HurricaneEdgar, Dam222, AwesomeHurricaneBoss, LightandDark2000, LowercaseGuy (one of the editor's picks for Member of the Month), and our Members of the Month, CycloneFootball71, and CodingCyclone! Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions, including past MoTMs and SoTMs, can be viewed here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments
New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include:
New A-Class articles include Cyclone Leon–Eline and Hurricane Olivia (2018). Member of the month (Editor's Pick) – Akbermamps and LowercaseGuy In this edition of Hurricane Herald, I ( MarioJump83, one of the Hurricane Herald editors) am going to pick Akbermamps and LowercaseGuy. Both of them contributed to nearly all of the new articles since the publishing of the last issue (and also they contributed to the last issue itself). All of these articles primarily covered the Western Pacific basin, but also they worked on missing Tropical cyclones in xxxx articles and Southern Hemisphere articles. They both were driving factors in some of the greatest growth the WPTC has ever seen since Issues 42, 43, and 44. Both of them are hard workers, who remain civil, and treat others with kindness, despite hardships. Akbermamps also has reverted many nonconstructive edits from many different articles, plus they have made many great edits to tropical cyclone articles, as said above. LowercaseGuy also has made many great edits, per above, plus they have kept the newsletter up to date with all of the new article creations, new GA's, and A-class articles within the project. Because of this, I can only say that I am very proud of them!
None during this period.
Since the last issue of this newsletter, I have noticed that there is an uptick of activity involving 2018 Global FT topic recently. Hurricane Noah came back from almost-retirement, then afterwards improved Hurricane Olivia (2018) into A-class, 2018 Pacific hurricane season within striking distance of it and Timeline of the 2018 Pacific hurricane season potentially became the second featured list we are going to have this year. Meanwhile, I have been focusing all of my efforts in WPTC at improving Cyclone Owen, by Chicdat, into GA status and end all drama between him and all other WPTC editors. Two MoTMs that I have personally picked, Akbermamps and LowercaseGuy, joined the fray (not joining us officially) and improved some 2018 Pacific typhoon season articles that I have created, including the creation of both two articles listed above (and as of right now, Akbermamps is building up Timeline of the 2018 Pacific typhoon season article in his sandbox). I'm very glad to see this happening and I hope this newly found activity could be kept up in the next two months. During these months, I am hoping that Noah might make efforts at improving Hurricane Bud (2018) towards FA eventually. Mario Jump 83!
If you are interested in writing new articles, promoting articles to GA, or helping with the FAC review process for the Global 2018 FT project, please reach out to LightandDark2000 or any other member of the 2018 FT task force. WikiProject To-Do
Storms of the month and other tropical activity for March and April SoTM for March – Cyclone Niran Cyclone Niran originated from a developing tropical low off the coast of Queensland on February 27. Afterward, the system slowly began to strengthen, while making a slow clockwise loop, bringing heavy flooding to parts of Queensland. On March 1, the system strengthened into a Category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian region basin scale, and was given the name Niran by the BoM. On March 3, Niran began to undergo rapid intensification as it began accelerating away from the Australian coast, towards the southeast. On March 5, Niran crossed over into the FMS's area of responsibility, in the South Pacific basin. Soon afterward, the cyclone reached its peak intensity as a Category 5 tropical cyclone on both the Australian region scale and the Saffir–Simpson scale (SSHWS), with maximum 10-minute sustained winds of 205 km/h (125 mph), maximum 1-minute sustained winds of 260 km/h (160 mph), and a central minimum pressure of 931 millibars (27.5 inHg). Several hours later, Niran underwent an eyewall replacement cycle and encountered wind shear, which caused the storm to begin weakening. The storm continued moving towards the southeast at a rapid pace, and on March 6, the storm struck the island of Grande Terre in New Caledonia, as a Category 3-equivalent tropical cyclone on the SSHWS, although the storm's eye stayed offshore. On March 6, Niran transitioned into an extratropical cyclone, and two days later, Niran was absorbed into another larger extratropical storm to the south. Niran caused at least $200 million (2021 USD) in damages, the vast majority of which came from banana crop damage in Queensland. No deaths were reported from the storm. SoTM for April – Cyclone Seroja On March 19, the BoM began monitoring a developing tropical low to the south of Timor, which they designated as 22U. On April 3, the system fully developed into a tropical low. For the next couple of days, the system made a slow counterclockwise loop over a part Indonesia and over Timor, gradually strengthening as it did so, causing torrential floods that killed at least 229 people. On April 4, the system strengthened into a Category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian region scale and was named Seroja by TCWC Jakarta. On April 5, Seroja began moving southwestward, away from Indonesia. The storm encountered wind shear during this time, but the storm maintained tropical cyclone intensity. On April 7, Seroja began closely interacting with Tropical Low 23U to the northeast, which later became Cyclone Odette, as a result of the Fujiwhara effect. The two storms began closely interacting on April 8, as the two storms drew closer to each other. The interaction initially caused both storms to weaken, though Seroja eventually restrengthen and 23U strengthened into Tropical Cyclone Odette later that day. However, soon afterward, Seroja became the stronger storm and begen to absorb Odette into its circulation. On April 10, Seroja absorbed Odette, before turning to the southeast and strengthening again. The system continued stregthening up until landfall, and the system made landfall on April 12 near Gregory, Western Australia, at peak intensity, as a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone on the Australian region scale and a Category 1-equivalent tropical cyclone on the Saffir–Simpson scale. Afterward, Seroja weakened as it moved inland, and the system transitioned into an extratropical storm, before emerging into the Great Australian Bight. Later that day, Seroja was absorbed by a larger extratropical cyclone to the south. Seroja killed at least 229 people and left another 102 missing, making it the third-deadliest tropical cyclone recorded in the Australian region basin. The storm also caused over $490.7 million (2021 USD) in damages.
Member of the month (edition) – CycloneFootball71 and CodingCyclone In this edition of Hurricane Herald, we present CycloneFootball71 and CodingCyclone as the Members of the Month. Both users joined Wikipedia and WPTC in the year 2020, and they helped us navigate into a better place during the COVID-19 pandemic and during the WPTC conflicts in 2020 and 2021. Their participation lifted and maintained our spirits during the tense situations and what's happening in the world. CycloneFootball71 is the kindest WPTC member we have ever seen, actively giving out barnstars and writing out statements that can be considered as "motivational", never targeting anyone, while also making contributions to articles, and participating in talk-page discussions, and occasionally, reverting vandalism. CodingCyclone, meanwhile, gave Wiki-project Tropical Cyclones the first featured list in years, and she helps out with wording, current cyclones, and other neglected timelines, and all around is kind, and thoughtful to everyone within the Wikipedia community. She is someone who has matured to become a great, and experienced editor here. We thank her for all of her contributions, and hope she continues to keep up the great work, and kindness. Unfortunately, 2020 was not a kind year for the two of them, particularly for CycloneFootball71, as he suffered from numerous illnesses, a few injuries, the loss of a friend (offwiki) and he retired (though he came back, thankfully) numerous times; these troubles even continued into 2021. Meanwhile, CodingCyclone stayed, but she entered a semi-WikiBreak, due to real life matters she had to attend to. However, both of them are editing at full speed now, and helped us realize what 2021 should be, full of hope and a better year than 2020 was. New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue. Sorted chronologically.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions! Thank you, JavaHurricane JavaHurricane, one of the prominent Wikipedia rollbackers since 2019, decided to quit WikiProject Tropical cyclones in April 7, 2021 after series of arguments regarding how the merger of Tropical storms Amanda and Cristobal was handled (though this was later resolved). This followed a series of events that included numerous edit wars, hostile interactions (involving both members and non-members of the Weather WikiProjects), incompetence issues, and trouble dealing with a number of serial vandals. These issues added on more and more stress to some of our members, with the botched handling of the Amanda/Cristobal merger being the last straw, which culminated in several WPTC members, especially the younger ones, to leave the project. Destroyeraa decided to fully retire from Wikipedia, but LightandDark2000 managed to get him consider rejoining WPTC after a lengthy series of off-wiki discussions, contingent upon the WikiProject improving its conduct. A MoTM of this edition, CycloneFootball71 also decided to retire, following the decision of Destroyeraa to quit WPTC, but quickly reconsidered and instead took an indefinite WikiBreak, which later became a Semi-WikiBreak. LightandDark2000 himself also considered quitting from WPTC and leaving Wikipedia entirely (since WPTC activities are his primary reason for being on Wikipedia in the first place), but he decided to stay for now (unless things continue to grow worse, in which case, a full retirement as a registered user is likely). Another MoTM, CodingCyclone, went on a semi-WikiBreak instead of quitting like some of others did. Although the worst of the turmoil seems to be over now, WPTC is still slowly recovering from the damage. However, it is clear, unfortunately, that JavaHurricane will not return to the project, due to the loss of faith and time. We hope that this will never happen again. To JavaHurricane himself: thank you. Thanks for all the edits you've made in 2020 and in 2021. You are one of the building blocks that led to the WPTC revival last year. Without you, we would have had more difficulty combating some of the LTAs we've recently dealt with. You've made plenty of quality improvements and also carried out a decent amount of anti-vandalism activities. If you ever wish to rejoin the project, you will always be welcome here. We wish you luck in your future endeavors.
From March 1 to April 30, one featured list was promoted. From the Main Page: Documents WikiProject-related materials that have appeared on the main page from March 1–April 30, 2021 in chronological order. March 11 – Typhoon Maemi
There is an article currently nominated as featured list candidate: Article of the Month: Tropical Storm Rolf Tropical Storm Rolf, also known as Tropical Storm 01M, was an unusual Mediterranean tropical storm that brought flooding to Italy, France, Spain, and Switzerland in November 2011. Rolf originated from an extratropical system near western France on November 4. For the next few days, Rolf moved eastward into the Mediterranean Sea, before making a slow clockwise loop off the coast of France. Despite the generally unfavorable conditions in the Mediterranean Sea, Rolf transitioned into a subtropical depression on November 7, before becoming a tropical storm later that day and turning northeastward. On November 8, Rolf reached its peak intensity, with 1-minute sustained winds peaking at 85 km/h (50 mph, 45 kn) and a minimum central pressure of 991 mb (29.3 inHg). During the next day, the storm turned westward and made landfall on the island of Île du Levant, in France, and soon afterward, near Hyères in southeastern France. Following its second landfall, Rolf quickly weakened, dissipating on November 10. Rolf was the first tropical cyclone ever to be officially monitored by the NOAA in the Mediterranean Sea. Rolf caused widespread flooding across southwestern Europe, especially in France and Italy, with the majority of the damage from the storm occurring in those two countries. Torrential rainfall from Rolf caused multiple rivers to overflow their banks in France and Italy, flooding multiple cities and resulting in extensive property damage. The storm forced numerous schools and businesses to close temporarily, and also caused significant damage to 300 farms in France. Floodwaters from Rolf's rainfall also cut the power to over 8,000 customers and necessitated thousands of rescues, in addition to forcing thousands of evacuations. The storm also caused the largest flood event seen in Gipuzkoa, in northern Spain since 1983. Rolf killed 12 people, and the storm was also the costliest Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone in the 2010s, with the storm causing at least $1.25 billion (2011 USD, €925 million) in damages. Current assessment table Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See
here for the latest, most up to date statistics.
Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
How to Cite Sources on Tropical Cyclone Articles, by LightandDark2000 In my years of experiences here on WPTC (and on Wikipedia, in general), I've noticed that citing sources properly is a skillset that many editors are lacking in. While a good number of the experienced editors are familiar with how to fill out citations on Wikipedia, this is something that the most of the newer editors struggle with, especially those who have never written a research paper before. Given the influx of new members in WPTC over the past year, I've decided to write a simple tutorial on how to properly complete citations in tropical cyclone articles. First of all, lets start with a standard citation template. This format will be used for the vast majority of citations on tropical cyclone articles: For our example, lets use this special "Tropical Cyclone Update" advisory for Hurricane Isaias, which was issued when the storm made landfall in North Carolina, early on August 4, 2020 (UTC time).
Once you have done all of this, your completed citation should have the following code: Which should appear as follows in the article: [1] With this tutorial, hopefully you now know how to properly cite sources within tropical cyclone articles. Properly citing sources is a crucial skill on Wikipedia. It allows you to make complete, professional references that can be accessed and reused by just about any other editor. Additionally, creating incomplete or improper citations forces other more experienced users to clean up after you, which not only wastes time, but also prevents an article from becoming a Good Article or Featured Article until these issues are completely resolved. Citing sources is an important skill and one that every experienced editor is expected to master. Citing sources takes time to learn, so don't be discouraged if you don't fully master the art at the beginning. As with everything else in life, new skills require "practice" to perfect, and as you cite more and more sources, you'll find that citing sources becomes easier and faster for you. I hope you find this guide useful in your journey on Wikipedia. May it help mold you into a superb writer, like many other experienced editors who have come before you. Best of luck, and happy editing! ~ LightandDark2000 🌀
Destroyeraa and the Project, by Chicdat, CodingCyclone, CycloneFootball71, MarioJump83, and LightandDark2000 Destroyeraa registered his account on Wikipedia in January 2020. He gained experience like all of us, and received several user rights in the process. He improved several articles to GA status, the first being Hurricane Dolores (2015). He made WikiProject Tropical cyclones a good place to be. He made some mistakes, of course, but learned from them quickly. But by 2021, real life seemed to be catching up to Destroyeraa. He went into periods of semi-wikibreaks. His editing became more sporadic. He has not edited since March 3, 2021. WikiProject Tropical cyclones has experienced plenty of turmoil since then, especially in late March and early April. Some users have been very hostile. There has been copyright problems. Drama is being created. With the exception of a few remarks by LightandDark2000 on-wiki, the project has not heard from him for a long time. I wish that he would come back, and I miss him. When Destroyeraa went, it seems that the short revival of WikiProject Tropical cyclones went with him as well. I came as the renewal of WPTC was beginning, so I knew no other state of the project. To Destroyeraa himself: Please come back. You made the WikiProject a good place to be. I miss you so much; you were like a real life friend. ~ 🐔 Chicdat Bawk to me! Destroyeraa was the person who invited me to the project. Like many others, his hard work and diligence made him a role model to me. Without him, I probably wouldn't be where I am today. He gave me advice when I was trying to improve Hurricane Fran (which I never completed, but would like to do as an honor to him) and helped me realize some of my earlier edits were a bit CIR-y and disruptive (albeit unintentionally). He was always unfailingly civil and helped other editors when they were down. He also created the Cyclone Cup which is actually really fun and something that I personally would never have thought of, and is helping to drive some people to create and improve more articles. To me, he was a symbol of the rebirth of WPTC. When he left, it seemed as though that age disappeared. I know that real life always takes precedence over Wikipedia, but hopefully he can figure out how to balance the two and come back soon. CodingCyclone! 🌀 📘 Destroyeraa has had a profound effect on the WPTC. He has been so helpful and kind throughout his time on Wikipedia, and I want to thank him for that. He has done so much for us throughout his time here, and Wikipedia has not been the same for the project since he left. He has helped me through lots, during some very difficult times, and he has been a great friend. He helped me create my first Opinion piece ever, which helped me get into editing these newsletters for the editors of this project. Despite some mistakes, he overcame these and became even better than before, and he really inspired me to improve myself in the realm of editing tropical cyclones. He did so much for this project, and me and the rest of this Wikiproject want to thank him for all that he has done. I am not sure what else to say, as Chicdat and CodingCyclone said everything that was in my mind. However, he was a great friend. Destroyeraa, you will be missed here on Wikipedia. I hope one day you may return and regain your faith in WPTC again, but for now, I only hope and wish for the absolute best for your life. Thank you again. 🌀 Cyclone Football 71🏈 | sandbox Destroyeraa brought me to speed during my initial WPTC tenure as SMB99thx, since I was not that active in my first years and also not aware of Wikipedia's changing guards, like newer users having advanced permissions so quickly, having many user scripts, very communicative on-and-off-wiki (i.e. using Discord), and so much more that I don't understand back when I first joined in WPTC. By learning from him, eventually, I did have the same advanced permissions like his up to last month, having many user-scripts, as well as using a custom theme for Wikipedia, which is not Vector, and its very cool! Without him, I may have been going into a path Chicdat is currently taking right now, as Chicdat wasn't able to stay as a page mover and a rollbacker early in his Wikipedia career, then got into several troubles which led me into adopting him. Now, I am going to give him lessons that I learned from Destroyeraa himself. Other than that, I don't have anything much to say about him, but I hope he's back again to help me once more, and bring me further growth as an editor going forward, which could potentially assist me at shepherding Chicdat into a better place. Mario Jump 83! The others above have pretty much captured what I would like to say, and since Destroyeraa and I have stayed in contact off-wiki, I'll make this brief. Destroyeraa was a one-of-a-kind. I've been here for 12 years now, and I have to say that I've rarely ever come across someone like him; even less so in real life. The work he has done in just one year on Wikipedia (as a registered user) is absolutely astounding; it took me 6 years for my editing to reach that level of professionalism. I have not seen anyone like him show up on WPTC since Hurricane Noah joined in 2017. He is really smart, and he is also one of the nicest people I've ever met. And he's a very good friend as well. Destroyeraa, I bet you were able to guess most of what I said here, but you should know that you're a real gem. Those of us here miss you, and there are others as well. And I did tell you that your absence would be felt, didn't I? Regardless of what you think, what you do here does and will affect us. I'm very happy that you've decided to come back this summer, once you get out of school. I hope to see you around the place then. Your friend, LightandDark2000 🌀 |
The Hurricane Herald:
2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics Special Edition!
The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006. If you wish to receive or discontinue your subscription to this newsletter, please visit the mailing list. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project-related events from May 1–September 3, 2021. This edition's editors and authors are LightandDark2000, MarioJump83, HurricaneParrot, CodingCyclone, CycloneFootball71, HurricaneCovid, HurricaneEdgar, Jason Rees, and Destroyeraa (the MoTM for this issue). Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions can be viewed here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments
New articles since the last newsletter include:
New GA's include: Member of the month (Editor's Pick) – Nova Crystallis and Supportstorm In this edition of Hurricane Herald, I (MarioJump83, one of the Hurricane Herald editors) am going to award Nova Crystallis and Supportstorm with my pick. Both of them are second-generation of WPTC members who joined Wikipedia in 2011 and 2014, respectively. Their most notable work were off-wiki: Nova Crystallis created the WPTC Discord server in August 2018, an idea of Hurricane Noah's, and has since then administered the server to this day, including several server cleanups on the occasions of server disruptions. Supportstorm, meanwhile, is one of the most prolific track creator in all of WPTC, which led some WPTC members ( Janm 7 in particular) to ask him for tracks, and as of now, he's actively converting track images from JPG into PNG versions, including the creation of tropical cyclones by year tracks. However, their on-wiki work deserve appreciation as well, since Nova Crystallis has created numerous GA-class WPAC pre-1980 typhoon articles pre-1980, in addition to actively creating GAs for WikiProject U.S. Roads, while Supportstorm takes their time to add their tracks into the articles once they're done and was once assisted in the creation of 1960s North Indian Ocean cyclone season articles back in 2013.
As we entered the summer and the start of the Northern Hemisphere tropical cyclone seasons, several users wrote new articles for the FT project and brought several to GA status.
If you are interested in writing new articles, promoting articles to GA, or helping with the FAC review process for the Global 2018 FT project, please reach out to Hurricane Noah, LightandDark2000, or any other member of the 2018 FT task force. WikiProject To-Do
Current assessment table As of this issue, there are 159 featured articles and 77 featured lists. There are 3 A-class articles, and 1140 good articles. There are only 164 B-class articles, perhaps because because most articles of that quality already passed a GA review. There are 620 C-class articles, 832 start-class articles, and 171 stub-class articles, with 1063 lists, and 0 current articles. These figures mean that slightly more than half of the project is rated a GA or better. Typhoon Warren was the 1000th GA in the project. Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the four milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for May, June, July, and August SoTM for May: Cyclone Tauktae Tauktae originated from a tropical disturbance, which was first monitored by the India Meteorological Department on May 13. The disturbance drifted eastward and organized into a deep depression by May 14. The storm soon took a northward turn, continuing to gradually intensify, and the system strengthened into a cyclonic storm and was named Tauktae later that same day. Tauktae continued intensifying into May 15, reaching severe cyclonic storm status later that day. Tauktae began to parallel the coast of the Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, before rapidly intensifying into a very severe cyclonic storm, early on May 16. Early on May 17, Tauktae intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm, reaching its peak intensity soon afterward. Later that same day, Tauktae underwent an eyewall replacement cycle and weakened, before restrengthening as it neared the coast of Gujarat, making landfall soon afterward. After making landfall, Tauktae gradually weakened as it turned northeastward, moving further inland. On May 19, Tauktae weakened into a well-marked low-pressure area. Tauktae brought heavy rainfall and flash floods to areas along the coast of Kerala and on Lakshadweep. There were reports of heavy rain in the states of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra as well. Tauktae resulted in at least 169 deaths in India, and left another 81 people missing. There were also 5 deaths reported in Pakistan. The storm displaced over 200,000 people in Gujarat. The cyclone also caused widespread infrastructure and agricultural damage to the western coast of India. SoTM for June: Tropical Storm Claudette (2021) Claudette originated from a broad trough of low pressure over the Bay of Campeche on June 12, which moved erratically over the region for the next several days. Moving northward with little development due to unfavorable upper-level winds and land interaction, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) initiated advisories on it as a Potential Tropical Cyclone late on June 17, due to its imminent threat to land. The disturbance finally organized into Tropical Storm Claudette at 09:00 UTC on June 19 as it was over southeast Louisiana. Claudette weakened to a depression as it turned east-northeastward before moving through Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. Baroclinic forcing then caused Claudette to reintensify into a tropical storm over North Carolina early on June 21 before it accelerated into the Atlantic Ocean later that day. Soon afterward, it degenerated into a low-pressure trough on the same day, before being absorbed into another extratropical cyclone on the next day. Claudette produced gusty winds, flash flooding, and tornadoes across much of the Southeastern United States. Claudette overall caused minor impacts along the Gulf of Campeche’s coastline due to the system stalling in the region as an Invest and a Potential Tropical Cyclone. Impacts were most severe in Alabama and Mississippi, where heavy rains caused flash flooding. Several tornadoes in the states also caused severe damage, including an EF2 tornado that damaged a school and destroyed parts of a mobile home park in East Brewton, Alabama, injuring 20 people. At least 14 people died in Alabama due to the storm. Total economic losses across the United States exceeded $350 million. SoTM for July: Typhoon In-fa In-fa was first noted by the JTWC as an area of low pressure, located east of the Philippines on July 14. Favorable conditions helped the storm to intensify, becoming a tropical depression, two days later and a tropical storm on July 17, being assigned the name In-fa by the Japan Meteorological Agency. Located in a weak steering environment, the system struggled to organize under dry air and moderate wind shear before organizing further. It continued to move mostly westward, strengthening into a typhoon and deepening quickly. The storm struggled to organize itself significantly due to continuous dry air intrusions and its frequent motion changes. On July 21, it reached its peak intensity, with maximum 1-minute sustained winds of 175 km/h (110 mph), and 10-minute sustained winds of 150 km/h (90 mph) on the system. Nevertheless, the system reached its minimum barometric pressure of 950 hPa (28.05 inHg), three days later, after passing through the Ryukyu Islands. As it entered the East China Sea, marginal conditions started to take their toll on the system, with In-fa weakening steadily and slowly, until it made its consecutive landfalls over Putuo District of Zhoushan and Pinghu on July 25 and 26, respectively, as a tropical storm. For the next couple of days, the storm slowly moved inland while gradually weakening, before turning northward on July 29. Later that day, In-fa weakened into a remnant low over northern China. The remnants continued their northward trek for another couple of days, before dissipating near North Korea on July 31. Typhoon In-fa exacerbated and played a part in starting the 2021 Henan floods, a flooding event that killed at least 302 people and dealt upwards of 82 billion yuan ( US$12.7 billion) in damage, while leaving at least 50 people missing. The typhoon itself killed 6 people and caused at least $2 billion in damages.
Member of the month (edition) – Destroyeraa Destroyeraa joined Wikipedia as an IP editor in 2018. His edits back then were sparse, mostly involving correcting typos and grammar articles in articles that he read. In 2019, he began editing more often, and he started editing articles on weather, especially those on storms in the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season. Although he contributed to those articles, his edits appeared to go unnoticed. On January 17, 2020 (January 18, UTC time), Destroyeraa created his user account on Wikipedia. In May of that year, he joined WPTC, though no one welcomed him for a month. Around this time, he co-created his first article, Tropical Storm Bertha (2020). He also began contributing larger amounts of contents to articles, in addition to creating new ones. In July 2020, Destroyeraa created an article for Hurricane Dolores (2015), which became his first GA later that month. By this time, he had become a regular WPTC editor and a key contributor, often updating the articles for various storms, such as Hurricane Isaias. As time went on, Destroyeraa contributed more content and built up his accomplishments. In October, he got Dolores's article posted to the Did You Know? section on the Main Page, and he got more articles promoted to GA status as well. He also started engaging in anti-vandalism activities, combatting multiple vandals and even some LTAs. However, he was blocked for a week for engaging in sockpuppetry. Nevertheless, after his block, Destroyeraa resumed contributing to various articles, and he also helped out with the workings of WPTC. In January 2021, Destroyeraa created the Cyclone Cup, a fun competition based on the WikiCup for WikiProject Weather users to participate in, in order to help encourage more article creation and the improvement of article quality. However, by March 2021, his school work caught up with him, and he was forced to take a WikiBreak for the next few months. In early April, Destroyeraa made the decision to retire from Wikipedia, due to a recent spate of drama and negative behavior on WPTC; however, after some off-wiki persuasion, he was persuaded to change his mind. In June 2021, Destroyeraa officially returned to WPTC. While he was a lot more inactive, largely due to summer assignments and real-life activities, he still contributed to Wikipedia from time to time. As of the publication of this newsletter, Destroyeraa has created 24 articles and brought five articles to GA status. He has become one of the most accomplished WPTC users who joined post-2020, and he plans on continuing his work in the future. We wish him the best of luck in his future on Wikipedia and in his studies at school, and we hope to continue seeing him around here. New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue. Sorted chronologically.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions! Thank you, TropicalAnalystwx13, MarioJump83, DachshundLover82, and Cyclone Toby TropicalAnalystwx13 left Wikipedia in September 2020 without notice. He was one of the most prominent content contributors within the past decade, and he also welcomed some of the other users when they joined. Within the past few months, MarioJump83 went into semi-retirement, and both DachshundLover82 (previously known as Robloxsupersuperhappyface) and Cyclone Toby decided to fully retire from Wikipedia. These users made their decisions after suffering from a lack of interest in editing, a variety of real-life issues (including health issues for DachshundLover82), and also a lack of time. MarioJump83 was an invaluable editor who had made many edits and written multiple aritcles and GAs, and they also brought new users to WPTC, in addition to mentoring Chicdat. DachshundLover82 and Cyclone Toby were both seasoned article writers, having authored multiple articles and even promoting some articles to GA status. Each of these users were MoTM picks in recent issues of The Hurricane Herald. We wish them the best in life and hope to see them again someday.
From May 1 to September 3, a featured list, a featured article, and a featured topic were promoted: From the Main Page: Documents WikiProject related materials that have appeared on the main page from May 1–September 3, 2021 in chronological order.
There is an article currently nominated for featured article status: Article of the Month: 2018 Pacific hurricane season The 2018 Pacific hurricane season was one of the most active Pacific hurricane seasons on record, producing the highest accumulated cyclone energy value on record in the basin. The season saw 26 tropical cyclones, 23 named storms – the fourth-highest value recorded, tied with 1982, 13 hurricanes, and 10 major hurricanes, in addition to one unofficial subtropical storm. The season also featured eight landfalls, six of which occurred in Mexico. The season officially began on May 15 in the Eastern Pacific, and on June 1 in the Central Pacific; they both ended on November 30. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Pacific basin. However, tropical cyclone formation is possible at any time of the year, as illustrated when the first tropical depression formed on May 10, five days prior to the official start of the season. The accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) index for the 2018 Pacific hurricane season was around 316 units. Broadly speaking, ACE is a measure of the power of a tropical or subtropical storm multiplied by the length of time it existed. Therefore, a stronger storm with a longer duration contributes more to the seasonal total than several short-lived, weaker storms combined. 2018 had the highest total ACE of any Pacific hurricane season on record, having surpassed the 1992 Pacific hurricane season. Tropical Cyclone Anniversary: August 29, 2005 – Hurricane Katrina On Monday, August 29, 2005, at 6:10 a.m. CDT (11:10 UTC), Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Buras-Triumph, Louisiana, before making another landfall near the Louisiana–Mississippi border, a few hours later. The storm made landfall as a powerful high-end Category 3 hurricane, with maximum 1-minute sustained winds of 125 miles per hour (201 km/h) and a central pressure of 920 millibars (27 inches of mercury). The storm had weakened from its peak as a Category 5 hurricane, due to an eyewall replacement cycle. Katrina caused the levee system in New Orleans to fail, flooding the city, and causing enormous amounts of destruction. The floods also ended up killing many residents of the city. In all, Katrina killed 1,836 people and caused an estimated $125 billion (2005 USD) in damages, making the storm the costliest hurricane on record in the United States and also worldwide (tied with Hurricane Harvey, without factoring in inflation), and also making the storm one of the deadliest hurricanes to strike the United States in the 21st century. My Experience on Wikipedia, by LightandDark2000 I joined Wikipedia as an IP editor on May 1, 2009 (May 2, if you go by UTC time). Although a couple of users encouraged me to make an account early on, I decided to continue editing articles from my IPs for the next few years. I just felt that I wasn't ready for a user account yet. In 2010–11, I experienced hounding from another user on some TV show articles, which made me withdraw from those articles for a while and briefly consider quitting Wikipedia. I registered my user account in May 2012, but I spent another year on Wikipedia as an IP editor, before fully transitioning over to my account in the summer of 2013. I also created my first articles in 2012. I pretty much grew used to using my account and decided to stick with it. :) In March 2014, I received an invitation to join WPTC, which I obviously accepted. I had considered myself a member of WPTC since 2012, but I didn't really know about WikiProjects, much less how to join them (otherwise, I would've joined much earlier). Since 2010, I had regularly contributed to articles. While I didn't have a solid grasp of how to cite sources at the time, I managed to contribute a good a mount of content, in addition to cleaning up spelling and grammar errors. As time went on, my article-writing skills improved, and so did my knowledge of Wikipedia policies. I will admit: I did have difficulty at times, and my temper got me into trouble from time to time. However, these mistakes made me more determined to better myself, and avoid the same missteps in the future. I also engaged in anti-vandalism activities quite often, which brought me into conflict with IPhonehurricane95 and his copycap, Lightning Sabre, whom can be considered the two most vicious LTAs that WPTC has had to deal with. In late 2014–early 2017, I largely moved out of WPTC into MILHIST, due to my interest in the recent conflicts involving the terrorist organization ISIL in the Middle East. I contributed a lot to those articles, though I still contributed to tropical cyclone and other weather articles from time to time. I had made some friends on-wiki by this point, including Master of Time and EkoGraf. In early April 2016, a small number of users were fed up with some of my edits and decided to launch a witchhunt in order to get me topic banned (or even completely banned, for some). While the case was eventually dropped, it was very disturbing to me and made me consider permanently retiring from Wikipedia. In August 2016, the combination of college work and stress led me to take a 3-month WikiBreak. I pulled a full exit and considered never coming back. However, I enjoyed contributing to Wikipedia too much (hehe), and during my winter break, I returned and resumed editing. In 2017, my editing activity gradually ramped up, and in September 2017, I returned to WPTC, following the devastating landfall of Hurricane Harvey in Texas. During my time in MILHIST, my citation skills had greatly improved. Once again, I regularly contributed to tropical cyclone articles, as well as articles on other storms and natural disasters, which I greatly enjoyed. I also observed the peak of the hyperactive 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, including the devastating landfalls of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. However, as I had noted before in some previous Op-Eds and elsewhere, I noticed that WPTC had stagnated, and had serious manpower issues. As we remained a rather small WikiProject for a while, it grew a little depressing at times. In December 2017, a combination of poor habits and overworking myself took its toll on my health and I suffered a severe burnout, and I was forced to leave Wikipedia until late January 2018 (a mistake I intend never to repeat). In 2017 through 2019, WPTC's membership slowly grew in size, a few of whom became very accomplished article-writers over time, and I met Hurricane Noah and others. I eventually acquired a number of user rights in order to help with my work on Wikipedia, including Pending Changes Reviewer, Rollbacker, and Page Mover. I continued tracking tropical cyclones and regularly contributing to those articles through the summer of 2019. However, in September 2019, I took an extended series of WikiBreaks through mid-2020, due to college work and real-life activities. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic went global, and lockdowns ensued. During this time, WPTC began seeing an explosion of new editors, though I remained inactive on-wiki for another several months and missed out the first part of this growth (much to my regret). In July 2020, I finally returned to Wikipedia, during the appearance of Comet NEOWISE and the impending landfall of Hurricane Isaias. Through the remainder of the year, I gradually increased my contributions, though I had to cut back on my editing activity until December, due to college. During this period, I met some of our new WPTC members, including Destroyeraa, HurricaneCovid, CodingCyclone, CycloneFootball71, and AC5230, and I made new friends, growing extremely close to some of them. I became more involved in WPTC's work, and I also helped out some of my fellow users when they needed it. In January 2021, I joined Destroyeraa's Cyclone Cup, a competition he made based on Wikipedia's WikiCup. In the past several months, I've witnessed and experienced several tumultuous episodes on WPTC, but I toughed them out. I continued contributing to various articles during this time, and I also got my first GA, Tropical Storm Rolf, with assistance from Destroyeraa. (Yeah, I didn't have the confidence to attempt a GA before then, even though I probably had the skills to do so since 2017.) In the summer of 2021, my activities began to wane once again, as I turned my attention more towards real-life activities, taking a break, and preparing for the upcoming school year. As of this writing, I am currently in college classes once again. I probably won't remain a regular editor for more than a year (since I will be searching for employment by then) and I will likely be forced into permanent Semi-Retirement then, but truly I appreciate my time here. I've created at least 26 articles and I have 3 GAs, and I'm looking forward to more content creation in the near future. In closing, I'd like to thank my fellow editors for everything. When I first joined, I was unaware of the existence of this WikiProject (much less WikiProjects in general). I've had a rough start, but I've grown a lot during my time here, both as a writer and as a person. (I have to say, my time editing on Wikipedia really improved my writing and typing skills, which really helped me in school.) I've also made some good friends here. WPTC was also kind enough of a WikiProject for me to feel comfortable retreating to during times of trouble. I've experienced a lot here during my 12 years on Wikipedia, and looking back on it, it was worthwhile. Thank you all for everything, ~ LightandDark2000 🌀 ( talk) My experience on Wikipedia, by codingcyclone I first joined Wikipedia on May 15, 2020. It's been over a year since then, and I've definitely learned a lot and will continue to learn more about contributing here. When I first joined, I never thought that I would be where I am today. To those who have given me advice and support, and been all around lovely people throughout my journey here ( you know who you are), to name a few, hehe, your generosity means a lot to me. You have seen me at my best and at my worst, and you've been there for me through it all. You're all very sweet. codingcyclone advisories/ damages 05:59, 26 June 2021 (UTC) To start off, my wikistory isn't all that interesting, and I'm not as experienced or accomplished as the other members of WPTC, but I've been wanting to write an opinion piece, so here we go. I made my first edit the day I joined. I didn't understand the concept of WP:BOLD, so my first few edits were to talk pages to discuss what to do. I also did not know how to sign my posts. LOL. I was a bit naïve, and in retrospect, I did some stuff prematurely. Luckily, I never did anything that was too damaging to the encyclopedia at this stage. At this point, my 'better' edits were mainly typo correcting, and copyediting. My activity was sparse due to IRL stuff from May to September 2020, but by October 2020, I had found out about Twinkle, and was making more edits, mostly to revert vandalism. This led to a minor dispute with an IP after I reverted their edit, which, to me, looked like blanking. I was wrong in classifying it as vandalism, and I violated WP:DEADHORSE when replying a month later. I do think that both the IP and I were wrong in some respects, but they were certainly more experienced than me, and I was definitely mistaken in trying to continue the argument. I continued to fix typos and revert vandalism, until I saw all the neglected tropical cyclone season timelines on Wikipedia, and I started to fix them. I created Timeline of the 2013 North Indian Ocean cyclone season (very incomplete still, I'll get to it soon™) and brought Timeline of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season to FLC (still needs a bit of work, though), leading to its promotion and my first little bronze star. I did my first GAR and helped out with the GANs of Tropical Storm Fay (2020) and Hurricane Paulette. I also helped start off 2021's Atlantic and Eastern Pacific timelines, and actually guided a new editor a bit. As of this edition's release, I'm helping the 2018 FT with timelines for the Southern Hemisphere. My activity is starting to lessen, since I'm going to be kind of busy IRL and I'm trying to manage my life more efficiently and other personal stuff, but I won't forget about Wikipedia. I'll always be here, fixing the timelines up. Semi-retirement, by MarioJump83 Hi! MarioJump83 here. You know by this point that I'm semi-retired, and you can see the farewell message above by fellow members. I won't give much clarification on why I have semi-retired in this newsletter, but I'm not fully gone just yet. As I am making this piece, I have removed the DachshundLover82 farewell message which I made by myself as they are strongly reconsidering retirement and became much more active recently, as well as changing some of my farewell message, but as you can tell from these, retirement isn't a sure thing. You can still edit anywhere at any time. I've got plans to work on Wikipedia in my semi-retirement like Cyclone Cup stuff and Spoken Wikipedia but here's a catch with a little bit of clarification (that's why I said "I won't give much" - that means I still give some clarification eventually): I feel much more restricted than I have ever was since I got my laptop on September 2020 (which led to the peak of my activity next month). I tried to sleep by day and night, but my sleep attempts keep getting disturbed thus leading to lack of sleep. And many more I won't tell for now - there's a lot more than this, but it is more private. I'll can give more about why I semi-retired, but only on WPTC IRC or contact me directly on Discord (you can search SMB99thx on WPTC Discord). By the way, this will be my final OP on Hurricane Herald, but probably not the final edit on Hurricane Herald yet. Thanks for giving me support, though, for helping me cope through mental stresses for all this time, which my family didn't give much thought about it, if not truly helping at all, since they are all about their business, AND as well as trying to get me regain interest on Wikipedia, but I don't feel like I'm going to come back on full speed this year. Not sure about next year, though. Tropical cyclone infobox images, by LightandDark2000 In 2016–2018, WPTC experienced a serious of vicious edit wars involving the main infobox image on numerous tropical cyclone articles, the most vicious of which was the Hurricane Ophelia (2017) image war. Most of them were visible satellite images Vs. Infrared satellite (IR) images that were slightly closer to the peak. This series of edit wars affected numerous articles, and they continued until the edit-warriors either stopped with their attempts at changing images or ended up getting blocked (most of those blocked were IPs who continued the edit wars). In August 2020–August 2021, a new series of edit-wars erupted over tropical cyclone infobox images once again. The largest of these newer wars was one that involved Hurricane Delta's infobox image. While many of those conflicts involved the same issue of visible satellite image Vs. IR images seen in the 2016–2018 edit wars, the newer wars also included competing visible satellite images that editors thought looked better than the original, for one reason or another. I have seen these edit wars affect multiple articles (though not as many as the older wars from a few years ago), but after all this warring, multiple WPTC users have grown fed up with it, including me. After various discussions on- and off-wiki, as a project, we have successfully moved more towards discussions first instead of edit-warring, though image-warring still crops up occasionally. First of all, I will say this to those who have participated in the image wars, and those who are inclined to do so in the future: knock it off. Consider this your only warning: If you have image-warred and you have been told to stop, if you do it again, there will be consequences. It does not matter who "started it" or who was "wrong". Edit-warring, especially image wars, are completely unacceptable. Not only are they unacceptable, but they are extremely stupid. WPTC has a set of image policies that dictate what kinds of images should be used in the infoboxes of tropical cyclone articles. While there is some wiggle room for interpretation, these guidelines should be followed regarding the infobox images. You can see the linked page for the image policies themselves, but I will list the most important points here:
Please consider these guidelines in the future regarding tropical cyclone images and any changes made to them. Editing on Wikipedia should not be stressful or filled with conflict. Instead, editing should be productive, and even enjoyable. We should all keep a level head and take a mature approach in all matters. Hopefully, together, we can make these image wars a thing of the past. ~ LightandDark2000 🌀 ( talk) |